Upon The Pallid Bust of Pallas
by Reborn Vampire
Summary: Finished!Edited version of Teen Titans A Raven's Bad Luck.Yuri, Shoujoai, FF pairing, and for those who don't know the jargan, two women sexually involved! Don't like Don't read, new book up soon.
1. Chapter 1

Shoujo-ai warning. Don't like. Don't read. Simple.

I don't want any flames for that reason. Other flames will be accepted happily. Pairings- Raven/Jinx, BB/Terra, Robin/Star.

Teen Titans: A Raven's Bad Luck

An individual clothed in a dark blue cloak stepped into the cafe. The hood was drawn up over her face, making it impossible to see her face through the deep shadows playing just underneath the hood. The cafe seemed to be done in exactly the right style for this person. The dark shades of blue, violet, and black served to remove the pent up stress obvious with even a cursory glance. The air pulsed slightly, as if the building itself had a heartbeat. There was two-seater tables scattered about, some with a lone figure, some by a set of two. Raven of the teen titans moved to her favorite table in the back corner and signaled to a waiter for her usual, the mug of herbal tea arriving less than a minute later. "Flown from the nest again, eh? Needed to get away from the chicks, right," the young waiter commented wryly. Raven came alarmingly close to smiling on that one, the corners of her mouth twitching spasmodically. "No, it wasn't the chicks this time. I just feel tired and worried, Marrion," Raven admitted. "You need to talk?" Marrion asked, concerned. "No," Raven sighed.

It was part of the reason that she regarded this place as a haven; she was never surrounded by titan fans or groupies, like she was at the mall or other places. There were really only two real reasons that someone would come to this place: for a romantic date, or to hide. Raven fit in the latter, but it was a good balance. The loners were too busy trying not to not to be noticed and the romantics were too interested in each other to have noticed anything short of a wall caving in. Raven glanced around nervously, good, it seemed as if Murphy's Law took the day off. Anyway, when things got to be too much for Raven, she came here to hide from anything and everything.

The waiter had long since walked away, talking Raven's refusal in stride. She called out to the shadows wordlessly and they answered, hiding her further in the darkness than any normal human eye could penetrate. She didn't worry; the staff here knew enough to know that she wouldn't skip out on the bill.

Even tough it was at least three days ago; she could still feel Slade's touch on her skin. No, she reminded herself, it wasn't his touch; it was her father's, Trigon. A yawning void opened up inside of her, as it always did with thoughts of the demon. It was filled with rage, pain, hatred, and all her powers. That was one of the reasons that Raven had joined the teen titans, and a small part of the many reasons that she stayed. She wanted to do good with the powers she had gotten from her dad, trying to distance herself from their blood connection. The apocalyptic visions playing in her mind's eye, she looked at her palms. Those damn marks were still apparent. She had tried every thing that wasn't fatal in her books to remove the stains, but they persisted. Summoning spells on a body were one of the hardest things to get rid of. The only non-fatal things she hadn't tried were Holy water and Angel's blood. Both of which would burn like hell on her half-demon body.

She felt reality pull her back as someone sat down in the seat opposite her own. Her shadows were still up, so she didn't actually see the person. Curiosity got the better of her and she dropped the darkness around her, revealing one startled ex-hive member. Jinx bristled like a cat when she saw Raven appear out of nowhere. She had to remind herself that she wasn't here to fight and held back a hex bolt.

"So, this is a surprise," she said, breaking the tense silence.

"Are you going to go quietly?" Raven sighed tiredly, not really feeling like taking the girl in, but a job was a job.

Jinx wagged a finger at Raven," Sorry, but the statue of limitations on all of my outstanding warrants expired two days ago."

Raven readily accepted the information; even if it wasn't true it was a reasonable enough excuse to dump the responsibility of Jinx on some poor cop with too much time. "Commit any new crimes?" Raven asked, feigning civil conversation.

Jinx did her best to pout and look innocent, which in Raven's opinion was pretty good. "If you must know, with Brother Blood gone I'm on the straight and narrow," she said defensively

That threw Raven for a loop, but she retook her senses quickly. A wordless truce was struck between the two after that and slowly the two began speaking on more friendly terms. Very slowly. Hours past by with the easygoing nature that they tend to have when spending time with someone that you get along with easily.

''So I ended up getting to know Starfire and I guess we understand each other better now I guess. I also hate puppets, I really, really hate puppets," Raven finished. Jinx managed to barely restrain herself; she knew that if she had let it go, she'd be on the floor in tears of mirth. When the pink-haired bad luck charm spoke next she was a little hesitant," so you said your powers are linked directly to your emotions, does that mean that." the incomplete sentence hung in the air along with a tense silence.

"If I feel emotion then my powers go totally haywire and 9 times out of 10 something will explode," Raven confirmed. Jinx winced at the non-chalant way Raven said it. "My powers are linked to things more circumstantial things," Jinx explained. Raven, who had long since dropped her hood, raised an eyebrow. Jinx expounded upon her earlier statement," like mirrors breaking, ladders, black cats, umbrellas, and," She visibly shivered," Friday the 13th." Raven looked confused," I thought those were all superstitions."

Jinx nodded," but they're true too. Something like a hundred generations ago, my great great whatever grand father was born on Friday the 13th and ever since someone in the next generation has been born on that day, and we all have had the power to control bad luck. One of my ancestors said it was so that the planet would have a kind of safety valve, of course he was also committed to a mental institution on his fortieth birthday." Raven smiled slightly; somehow Jinx had been making her do that more and more often these past hours.

"Things blow up a lot when I lose control too," Jinx said after a pause," and people get hurt too." Raven surprised a shiver, she really sympathized with Jinx. The pink-haired girl was probably one of only a few on the planet that actually knew what it was like to have a beast within you that was jumping at the least chance to get out, and when it was out it would kill and kill and kill. Raven suddenly stood up," I need to get back to the tower now, I hate to admit it, but it was nice talking to a girl other than Starfire. We should do this again sometime."

"Tomorrow night, same place, same time," Jinx suggested.

Raven thought for a moment then smiled again," I'd like that."

It had been a week since Raven met Jinx at the cafe and the two had met there each night since. The rest of the titans were whispering something about her having a boyfriend and said that she fad a 'goofy' smile on her face when she come in the last three nights. She had met them with a glare and her normal silent treatment. The blaring alarm that signaled an emergency cut through Raven's thoughts. Already ready,

She checked the time,'Damn,' she thought,' I'll be late for my date with Jinx.'

The thought caused her to stop cold for a few seconds,' my date? With Jinx? I've been listening to Cyborg too long.' Deciding it was just a slip of the mind she pushed it out of her thoughts for the moment and rushed to the main room.

"It's Johnny Rancid and he has a few new pets," Robin announced once they were all gathered. The screen showed a large muscular man with black, scraggily, short hair on a motorcycle. Behind him were three mechanical monstrosities. They were similar to raptors in their design, from the speed of the background flashing by they were doing at least 70mph.They had steel structures and looked fearsome enough to tear apart cars.

"Please, what does the Rancid one want with this violence?" Starfire asked Robin.

"Same as always Star, he just wants money and destruction," Robin replied," Titans GO!"

"Here they COME!" Cyborg yelled over the roar of the oncoming engines.

"I'll take Rancid," Robin yelled in turn from his own motorcycle," Cy, take the left; Star and BB, the middle; Raven, the right."

Beast Boy nodded and took the form of a velociraptor himself. Cyborg charged his canon. Starfire's hands began to glow a luminous green. Raven began to speak," Azarath, Metrion, Zynthos," and her hands took on the black glow of her telekinetic powers. Robin gunned the engine of his bike and took out his staff, holding it like a lance.

Robin speed toward the oncoming biker, the robot-raptors leaving their master to do battle with the prey so obviously awaiting them. Cyborg got the first hit in, landing a blow on the machination's jaw. As it fell it knocked Cyborg's legs out from under him, sending them both to the floor. The brawl became an indistinguishable blur of organic and robotic body parts as the raptor and Cyborg let out bestial yells of triumph and retaliation.

The second raptor deflected the two balls of light that the Tamarainian girl shot at it and launched head long into a one-on-one with Beast Boy. The teeth and claws of the changing had little effect and a change of tactics was necessary. Starfire saw his predicament and pulled the mechanical dinosaur off, slamming him into a wall in the process. A shift to a rhino and the robo-dino was up and ready for more.

Raven pulled up two light poles and began to bludgeon the metal beast with them. Taking two hits in stride, the beast was able to knock the metal poles from the sorceress' control. Two parking meters came up next, enveloped in the familiar black glow. They wrapped like putty around the dinosaur and held him fast, at least for a few seconds. Breaking its bonds, the beast headed for Raven again. A shield of black energy rose up around the violet-haired girl, protecting her from the tooth and nail attack. Although the shield couldn't stand up indefinitely, it would give her a precious few seconds to get a new plan of attack together. The problem was, she was fresh out of ideas. There was no debris around to chunk at it and it was thrashing too violently to get a hold of. The others were occupied with their own battles, so she was on her own. With a grim smile she accepted her fate,' who would've thought that it would end this way? Torn apart by a mechanized reject from the cretaceous,' she thought wryly. Her thoughts spun to other topics, her friends, past victories, and Jinx.

The last one was quite a surprise to the teen. Maybe her feelings for the bad luck charm went deeper that she thought. She made a mental note that if she got out of this one she might see if Jinx wanted to go on a date or two.

"Speak of the devil," Raven said softly as pink hex bolts knocked the clawing fiend away. "Sorry, but that one's mine you robotic freak," Jinx said as the dinosaur's circuitry fizzled and an explosion ripped it wide open. "Sorry I'm late," Jinx apologized. Raven smiled,

"Better late than never." Her eyes wandered to her teammates. "If you wouldn't mind taking care of the other two?"

Jinx grumbled something like," Give 'em an inch..." She formed a pistol shape with her fingers and took aim at the one attacking Starfire and Beast Boy. "Bang Bang," she said comically and hit the mechanized beast with two bullet-like hex balls. This one had a similar reaction, exploding into a pile of scrap metal. She then took aim at Cyborg's and got in a headshot. The head spun around a few times before popping off and exploding like a miniature firework. Jinx blew on the tip of her finger like the barrel of a smoking gun and holstered it.

"Can we go now?" Jinx asked, bored.

"One minute," Raven replied and pointed to Johnny Rancid, who was currently revving up for another go at Robin, using a parking meter as a lance. Jinx impatiently watched the duel and remained non-pulsed when Robin won. "Now?" Jinx asked even less patiently.

Raven nodded and moved to speak with Robin," Robin, I have an... engagement," she motioned to Jinx. Robin looked confused, but Raven added," I promise to explain later."

"Okay," he agreed.

"Jinx, do you think we could go to somewhere other that the cafe tonight, and how did you know where we were?" Raven questioned.

"When you were late I ran over to the bar across the street and flipped to the news, it wasn't that hard to realize there must have been an emergency," the pink-haired girl replied," and it's been a while since I saw a decent movie."

"Jinx, how do you feel about homosexuals? Raven asked in her normal monotone, but inside an enormous amount of anxiety churned within her as to the answer of the question.

Jinx eyed the violet-haired girl suspiciously," I'm just taking a swing here, but I'm guessing that you have a 'friend' that needs advice whether or not to tell another 'friend,' of the same sex, that he/she might like him/her as more that a 'friend,' right?"

Raven nodded, unable to answer, for fear of what would come out of her mouth if she opened it.

"My advice is to take the chance, nothing lost, and nothing gained, right?" Jinx turned to keep walking, but Raven's hand caught her own, an electric sensation passing over the skin that connected.

"Jinx, I...I like you, a lot," Raven said, the anxiety still there in her blushing, but hopeful face. Jinx gave her a slightly fanged smile and leaned in very slowly to give the sorceress of Azarath a light kiss on the cheek. A row of light poles launched skyward, never to be seen on earth again. Raven blushed more and threw up her hood, hiding her face. Jinx couldn't help but giggle slightly.

"You look nice," Jinx complemented as Raven stepped out of the theater wall. Raven had quietly slipped back to the tower to change into a set of normal clothes. After all, a titan going to the movies would get mauled by fans or fanatics. She was dressed in a black, long-sleeved shirt and dark blue jeans with a purple jacket hanging open. Raven blushed at the complement and even more so when Jinx took her arm. The sorceress stiffened when she saw the crowd of moviegoers.

"Relax," the bad luck charm whispered," we're just two normal girls seeing a movie. No one's seen you without your hood and Brother Blood paid enough people off to ensure that our faces never ended up on the news or front page." It wasn't what Jinx said; so much as it was Jinx that said it. A little of the stress eased from her body as Jinx took her arm and led her inside. For some reason beyond her comprehension, Raven felt soothed by the mere presence of the pink-haired girl. She had been feeling that way since a week ago when she and Jinx had met in the cafe. At first the feeling was dismissed, bet now it was consistently there anytime Jinx was nearby. Jinx quickly procured two tickets to a movie called "Constantine."

"So, what did you think?" Jinx asked after the movie.

"Well, they did get some things right, like all angels aren't that holy, but demons aren't all that bad. I mean some have been known to steal souls, but most just want to be left...alone?" Raven finished as Jinx gave her an odd look. She realized her mistake instantly and shut up quickly.

"Raven how do you know about demons?" Jinx asked curiously.

"We need to go somewhere else to talk about this," Raven stated uneasily and summoned her shadows around the two, transporting them to her room. "Warn me before you do that again," Jinx pleaded "Sorry," Raven apologized and moved to a bookshelf, removing a large volume. Raven motioned to Jinx for her to sit down beside her on the bed. Raven opened the volume to a familiar page. "Oooh," Jinx said in appreciation. "This book is the book of demons, this is Trigon. The king of Demons." She pointed to a picture of a misshapen beast,

"My father," Raven finished. Jinx looked Raven in the eyes and established there wasn't a joke to be had. This was the moment that Raven was nervous about. She didn't know if Jinx would be disgusted or terrified. She had wanted to wait a little while to tell the pink-haired teen, but due to her own slip of the tongue, it would have to be now.

"I guess it's safe to say you take after your mom, huh?" Jinx grinned. Relief flooded Raven's system and a few tears escaped her eyes. "Did I say something wrong?" Jinx asked, alarmed.

"No," Raven said weakly," It's just that there have only three people to accept me for who I am, other than my mom."

Jinx realized how much not caring about what the Raven was meant to the gothic girl. Gently, she pulled Raven into a hug, wrapping her arms around the titan waist. "I guess I just realized exactly how much you not caring kind of validated my existence."

"Hey," Raven's head popped up," I lost control and nothing blew up." There was a giddiness in expressing emotion and not having anyone get hurt. She savored that feeling, for once in a long, long time, she savored a feeling. "That's probably my fault," Jinx said, relishing the effect that the warmth from Raven's skin was having on her own.

Raven turned a curious eye on Jinx. "My powers have an effect on probability. What ever should happen doesn't and whatever shouldn't happen does. You should be able to let your emotions out more freely, but don't push it. There's a limit to even my bad luck," Jinx replied with caution. Raven buried her head into the nape of Jinx's neck

"Jinx, would you be okay with it if I said I might be falling in love with you?" Raven asked quietly.

There was a warm sensation inside Jinx that tripled when Raven said that. She had her own feelings for Raven, but didn't think that the gothic teen was ready to accept them yet. Raven, she had learned, had a problem letting people into the castle she built around herself. It was weird then that she had left herself open to this degree.

"I would be more that okay with it. I would love it if you were in love with me," Jinx said hauntingly. Raven shifted, and slowly pressed her lips to Jinx's. The kiss was soft and hard at the same time. Inexperience combined with an almost feral hunger in a fumbling, but pleasant experience that left both teens breathless...and floating two feet above the bed they had previously been sitting on.

Raven gently laid them both down and smiled that rare smile she did when she was truly happy. "Raven," Jinx breathed heavily," You know where this will lead if we keep going and you also know that neither of us are ready for it."

Raven nodded and forcefully suppress the spark of lust that had ignited, tightening her grip on her emotions as well. It wouldn't do any one any good if she lost control.

"And besides that I really do need to get back to my place. Mammoth offered to put me up till I was able to find a place of my own. He's like the big brother I never had," Jinx explained. She was about to continue, but a knock at Raven's door interrupted her.

"Raven?" Robin inquired from the other side," are you in there?"

Jinx and the aforementioned sorceress jumped apart guiltily, Raven going to answer the door.

The door slid open an inch or two, just enough for Robin to see the left side of Raven's face. "Sorry, was I interrupting something?"

The questioned stemmed from the almost unreadable irritation on raven's face. Even Robin didn't see it so much as he felt it in the lingering traces of the link that raven had once forged.

"No," Raven said," I agreed to an explanation and you are the leader of this team, so you have a right to know." Raven looked to Jinx before opening the door, wordlessly asking permission that Jinx readily granted. The door opened and Robin was only half-surprised to find Jinx sitting on the bed. "Hi," the pink-haired girl greeted. "Uh...hi," Robin replied.

"Robin, Jinx and I are..."Raven faltered, searching for the right word.

"Involved with each other," Jinx supplied.

Raven nodded a silent thanks and waited for Robin's reaction.

The Boy Wonder looked at the two and said thoughtfully," That was one of the things I wanted to talk to you about." He turned to Jinx. "From what the others tell me you helped out a lot in the battle with Rancid," he reached into his belt for something," I haven't talked to the others yet, but if you really have turned over a new leaf, then..." he left the statement hanging as he produced a titan's communicator and held it out to Jinx. She looked at it uncertainly. "It's yours if you want it," Robin assured her," You would be a welcome addition to the team."

"Can I think about it a little?" the pink-haired teen asked. Robin nodded and put the device back into his belt.

"Oh, Raven?" his attention shifted," you don't have to tell the others, but if Jinx joins it will probably come out anyway and Beast Boy will have a field day teasing you about your 'girlfriend' either way."

Raven nodded, accepting the facts as they were.

Robin gave a quick good night to each and left for his crime-monitoring computer.

"Would it bother Beast Boy that we were...I mean...together?" Jinx asked worriedly.

Raven allowed herself a self-confident smile," Beast Boy and I have an odd relationship. It's close to siblings in that we annoy each other, but there's no one we'd rather have by our side in battle. That's why he'll tease you and me, he'll be at least a little jealous."

Jinx quirked her head to the side and furrowed her eyebrows, she didn't understand.

"Titans GO!" Robin yelled for the third time that week.

The Titans knocked the door to the museum open, revealing the dark, empty building.

"Okaaaay, weren't we supposed to be here to stop a robbery or something?" Beast Boy asked.

"Yeah, but it was just a silent alarm, so no one was here to confirm the identity of the person who broke in," Cyborg conceded.

"My friends, does this situation not seem familiar?" Starfire said, not wanting to mention Slade to Robin or Raven.

Silence greeted Starfire's statement as Raven's stomach turned into a block of ice. The intense fear only quelled by intense control on Raven's part.

"Come out Slade!" Robin exclaimed, his voice echoed of the walls tauntingly.

"Perceptive as always Robin," Slade's voice, equally taunting, rang out clearly as he stepped out from shadows as black as the pits of Hell.

"Slade," Robin growled out," We saw you die, Terra died to kill you, Why aren't you DEAD!" Robin asked. The question of how he had survived had been eating him alive since he had seen the masked figure three weeks ago.

"Oh, but Robin, I did die," Slade replied smugly," and speaking of which, Raven, you need to come with me." Raven wished Jinx was here. She didn't know why, but the bad luck charm was a real, concrete part of her life now. She and Jinx had seen each other every night for the last week also and last night she had agreed that she would join the Titans.

"No," Raven gave the word as much malice as if she was talking directly to her father, who she was sure, was listening.

"I'm afraid my master didn't say you had a choice in the matter," Slade said, holding up a flaming fist.

The Titans all automatically put up a guard, ready for the fire. From their position by the door the Titans were knocked clear from the building. Slightly singed, the teens all managed to right themselves, except for Beast Boy, who landed face first on the pavement outside the museum. "Titans GO!" Robin yelled again as the battle commenced. Robin took Slade in hand-to -hand, alternating with Cyborg and Best Boy, the heavy artillery of the group. Once they had been knocked away, Starfire launched a volley of star bolts, and Raven, bringing up the rear, turned nearly anything she could get her powers on into a projectile. This circle continued for over an hour, the monotony of battle gripping the teen's minds, turning seconds to minutes, and minutes to hours. The actual time they were in battle lost to their intense weariness.

"I have enjoyed this battle, believe me Robin, but I must be going. Now, Raven," Slade said, stepping forward to the exhausted team.

Every Titan was breathing hard and sported at least five dark blue bruises apiece. "Get away," Raven said as the masked figure took another step forward," I don't want to go with you, go away. Tell my father I never want to see him again."

The strain on her body and mind was beginning to crack the control that normally stood so strong governing her emotions. "You don't have any choice raven, I will take you. By choice or by force."

That declaration pushed Raven over the edge. "LEAVE ME ALONE," she howled. Her cape blew open revealing tentacles of dark energy. The white two white eyes concealed beneath her hood were now six glowing red ones. The other Titans moved away obligingly, they had seen what happened to Dr. Light. Slade had expected another out burst of power similar to her last; fueled by fear, but not one fueled by raw anger. "YOU WILL NOT HAVE ME, YOU LAOTHESOME THING!" Raven declared, consumed by boundless rage.

What followed was a new battle. One where fire ate darkness and darkness suffocated fire. Raven attacks were vicious and animalistic while Slade was quickly pushed on the defensive. With every strike Raven took another step to exhaustion, Slade, however, was taking far too much damage to be confident about the outcome of the fight. With one final blast of energy, Raven fell back, completely void of any will to fight. Slade fell to the ground, but was able to catch himself. He, too, was breathing hard now and was anything, but amused when the now rested Titans jumped to their fallen comrade.

"This is getting tiring," Slade said, launching balls of bright flame at the Titans. The flames knocked them to the wall of a nearby building, binding them to the surface.

"Leave her alone," Beast Boy yelled.

"Yeah, dude, what's Raven ever done to you," Cyborg shouted out.

"It's not a matter of what she has done to me, it's what she will do to the world," Slade returned, walking over to his catch. "Well Raven, the game is over now, it's time to go."

"Jinx," Raven cried softly, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"No one can save you now Raven," Slade said with relish.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Jinx cried, landing the mother-of-all-kicks square on Slade's jaw. The power Jinx had put into the kick must have surprised even her because Slade was knocked at least ten feet away and slid another three.

"I'm so sorry Raven, I almost didn't get here in time. I'm so sorry," Jinx said as she held the violet-haired girl tightly in her arms. Slade rose once again, this time shakily.

"Jinx, he's getting back up," Robin warned from his place on the building's wall. The shock of Jinx's second appearance at one of their fights, or the pink-haired girl holding Raven tightly and Raven reciprocating didn't faze him as badly as it did the others. The remainder of the team had asked Raven why Jinx had saved them during the fight with Rancid, but she had only answered them with silence.

"Robin, why does the Jinxed one help us now?" Starfire asked, confused.

Robin sweat dropped, he really did not want to explain that to Starfire," Uh, I'll tell you later Star."

I am quite tired of playing games now," Slade said, irritated.

The venom in Jinx's glance was enough to make Slade recoil as she said," Slade, on my way here I happened to meet an acquaintance of yours and I brought her along."

Slade suddenly got the feeling that one gets right before he's hit with a truck. Looking up, he realized why. There was an immense load of earth above his head. "Nice to see you again Slade," a voice from his 'past life' said. The load of dirt fell and the other Titans were released from their bonds. Every person looked to the figure hovering above the ground on a large rock. Her blonde hair waved in the wind above a black T-shirt with a yellow 'T' with a circle around it, her pants were simple, brown shorts.

"Uh, Hi," Terra said, looking at the now free Titans.

"T-T-Terra," Beast Boy said. Terra nodded. "Terra!" Beast Boy yelled tearfully and ran, tackling Terra in a bear hug.

"Where's Slade?" Robin asked.

Terra raised the mass of land above her head and nothing. Just nothing. No Slade, no crushed remnants thereof. "You know, I thought for a minute there it was actually going to be that easy," Cyborg complained.

"Beast Boy, I'm glad to see you too, can you please let go of my waist now," Terra said, trying to remove the green teen from her.

"Soo, Terra we thought you were, well you know...dead?" Robin asked at the tower about half an hour later.

"Uh, yeah, I guess I was," Terra responded unsurely," The big guy up there said that I had a little unfinished business on Earth and he sent me back." She stopped a moment and remembered something," Oh, and he gave me a message for you," She cleared her throat," No one except you has the ability to choose who you are, especially you Raven."

"You mean you died, went to heaven, met God, and came back," Cyborg asked disbelievingly. Terra nodded. "What does he look like?"

"He said that I wouldn't remember and I don't, something about media fanfare," Terra sighed.

Cyborg made a disappointed noise, but shrugged.

"Um, he also explained that you would be fighting someone really strong, and I was wondering if I could rejoin the team. I've learned my lesson this time and I'm sorry," she looked around the room at every one," sorry to everyone I hurt." She looked down and waited for a verdict.

"Friends, I believe we should have a vote, as your democracy has taught us," Starfire declared.

Robin shrugged," Okay, Titans, huddle." Raven and Beast Boy reluctantly left their respective 'other halves' to gather in a circle around each other.

"So," Robin prompted.

"Let's give her one last chance, she did sacrifice herself," Beast Boy pointed out.

"I think the green dude's right, it's not every day someone comes back from the dead," Cyborg added.

"Pleas, Robin, Terra does seem to have repented," Starfire pleaded.

"Raven?" Robin asked.

"...I'm not sure," she looked to Beast Boy and saw that same puppy-dog look that he gave when he really wanted something, he knew that it just reached a person's heart out to say 'no.' "You really trust her, don't you?" she asked him in a carefully neutral voice. Beast Boy nodded. Raven knew she was going to say 'yes,' it was because Raven felt how Beast Boy did, but about Jinx. She was fully aware that she loved Jinx and she was also pretty sure that Beast Boy loved Terra.

"Alright," she relented," But if this backfires, it's on your head."

"We're agreed then," Robin said at last.

Robin stood at the front of the room, emotionlessly. He cleared his throat professionally and said with a smile," I am pleased to allow Terra back into the Teen Titans." There were cheers by Beast Boy, who tackled Terra once again and Starfire and Cyborg.

Robin waited for the applause to die down then cleared his throat for attention again," I am also pleased to induct a new member of the Teen Titans today: Jinx."

All heads except Raven's, Robin's, and her own, turned toward the pink-haired teen. She blushed and moved slightly behind Raven.

Robin walked forward and handed Terra and then Jinx a Titans communicator.

"Hello new friend Jinx!" Starfire greeted excitedly. Jinx gasped for air as she was dragged out of her comfort zone into an alien bear hug. "Nice to meet you too," she managed. Starfire remembered what Robin that she needed to watch how hard she greeted people.

"Oh, friend I am sorry," the alien apologized.

"Don't worry about it," Jinx reassured her.

"Nice to see you again bad luck charm," Cyborg greeted, using her old nickname from the HIVE.

"You too Cyborg," Jinx said, shaking his hand.

"Uh, Hi," Beast Boy stated simply and shook the newcomer's hand, Jinx nodding in return.

"I'd like to make an announcement," Raven said blushingly, Jinx blushed too. She knew what Raven was going to 'announce.' They had talked about weather or not to try and hide their relationship from her friends and decided not to. It was going to be embarrassing, but in the long run, it would be best.

"You all wanted to know where I've been going the last two weeks, so I'm going to tell you," so said she walked up to Jinx and planted a firm kiss on Jinx's lips.

Immediately after Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Terra regained conciousness...all HELL broke loose.

"I've already died once, could you try not to give me a heart attack," Terra complained," hey, where did Beast Boy go?" The changeling was conspicuously absent.

"He and Cyborg said something about the end of the world and ran off," Robin supplied, watching Starfire, who was trying to convince Raven and Jinx to let her make a 'Gathnrap,' which she explained was a traditional marriage feast. The aforementioned couple was trying to calm the alien princess. Starfire was in full perky mode, which always caused Robin to have a headache. The Boy Wonder pinched the bridge of his nose, staving off the inevitable headache.

Two voices moaned in pure ecstasy as their owners climaxed.

"That was...wow," one voice said.

"Yeah, wow," the other voice concurred.

"We should get back before Bumblebee notices we're gone," Speedy said worriedly.

"She won't notice for a little bit yet," Aqua lad reassured his boyfriend," and besides, would you rather start your watch early or stay with me a while longer?"

It was a loaded question, so instead of answering it Speedy kissed Aqua lad deeply.

Half a second later the door swung open and the leader of Titan's West stared incredulously at the sight before her. "Oh My God," she breathed. Luckily the blanket on the bed the two nude boys was still moderately wrapped around them, so it preserved some decency.

The shock of what she had just witnessed sank in and she backed out of the room saying," get dressed and meet me in the main room," before the door closed.

Speedy and Aqua lad looked at each other. Speedy shrugged," It could have been worse."

Aqua lad sighed and disentangled himself to begin the lengthily procedure of dressing. Lengthy, at least if you were dressing with someone, a boyfriend for example.

"I need advice. I really need advice," Bumblebee sighed as she entered the code for Titan's East.

"Que se," mas y menos interjected," a problema?"

"You really, really don't want to know," She responded definitively.

The Boy Wonder appeared on the screen momentarily. "Bumblebee?" he asked, mildly surprised. Robin looked as though he had seen better days. Looking behind him she saw why. Starfire had a kind of crazed look in her eye and was assaulting Raven and a pink-haired girl. Cyborg was trying to interject himself waving a poster that said 'repent for judgment day is nigh.' Beast Boy was...praying...to tofu? There was also a blonde girl that Bumblebee didn't recognize who was eating popcorn and watching the scene with amusement.

"And I was calling to ask for help," she said in horror.

"You REALLY don't want to know," Robin said as his eye twitched.

"Who's the pink one?" Bumblebee asked.

"Raven's girlfriend," he answered neutrally," and a new titan, former hive member. You might of met her: Jinx."

"Oh yeah," Bumblebee remembered," we didn't have classes together, so we didn't see each other much. Jeez, Raven can pick 'em."

"You probably never met Terra, she just got back from being dead," Robin answered seriously.

"You're right, I didn't want to know. Any way, I need advice on how to deal with a situation," Bumblebee said.

"Does it have anything to do with the fact that mas y menos are being chased by Aqua lad and Speedy?" he asked as a blur passed by.

Bumblebee sighed," I just caught Aqua lad and Speedy in bed together."

It was all Robin could do to keep from falling to the floor in laughter as he said," don't worry about it, my basic rule is to keep them from killing each other. Other than that I try not to worry."

"Did Starfire just put one of your bird-a-rangs in the microwave?" Bumblebee asked interestedly.

Robin's eye twitched again and he hastily signed off to deal with more urgent matters.

"Wow," Bumblebee repeated, Robin had so much to deal with.

Two out-of -breath, but fully clothed teens reported in soon after. "Mas and Menos stole my pants," Speedy explained breathlessly.

"And my shirt," Aqua lad added.

"Okay, first off I want to say that I'm sorry for walking in on you two and I'll support any discussion you make. Mostly I just wanted to make sure you know it can't interfere with your duties," Bumblebee stated sternly.

The male Titans nodded. "We knew and agreed to that before anything ever started," Aqua lad replied. "Yeah, we know what'll happen if we let emotions get in the way," Speedy agreed.

The conversation was cut short by a disturbingly normal sound, one that Titans East had not heard in their tower before. A doorbell.

"La Puerta! La Puerta!" Mas and Manos exclaimed simultaneously. "We have a doorbell?" Bumblebee asked incredulously. Speedy shrugged and went to answer the door.

The sight that greeted him was more than slightly odd. Someone who appeared to be ready for bed. This person wore a set of red P.J.'s with yellow stars on them and a blue sash that covered his face and turned into a cape of the same color. The light blue hair that hung in front of the person's eyes was topped by a night cap of the same design as the P.J.'s ending in two droopy points with light blue puffs on each one.

"Hello," a subdued, but feminine voice said, jarring Speedy out of his stupor.

"Uh, hi," he answered.

"Is this the home of the Teen Titans," she asked.

"Yes, how may I help you?" Speedy said politely.

"May I come in, I have a long story and it is going to rain soon," she replied.

Speedy led the stranger inside and into the main room where the other four members of the team looked her over.

"I'm sorry for the intrusion, but I'd like to join your team if it is at all possible," she said in a meek voice.

Bumblebee was clearly confused," How about we start with who you are. Your name?"

After a little pause she said," Dream Clown is my name. I can create illusions and I really don't have anywhere else to go and when I saw you on the news I thought I might have found a place where my powers can be of some use."

Speedy nodded," so, Dream Clown, any family or friends? I'm guessing you had a life before your powers manifested."

She stared at her lap and her hands curled into fists. In a teary voice she got out," I ran away. Everyone at school called me a freak so I didn't have many friends and I didn't want to cause my mom any more trouble, so I left. I never knew my dad. I just started walking and my feet took me here."

"What did you mean by illusions?" Aqua lad asked.

Dream Clown looked to Bumblebee and asked," is there a place you liked when you were a kid?"

"There was a tree by a river in the winter where I loved to go sit on a bench and watch the snow fall," Bumblebee answered, more confused.

"Take my hand," Dream Clown said and took off one of her gloves, holding the delicate digits out. Bumblebee hesitated, but laid her hand onto the other girl's. "Think about that place now. See it feel the cold of the wind and ice and snow," Dream Clown's voice took on a hypnotic thrall and lulled the feminine insectoid into a dream like state.

Aqua lad, Speedy, Mas, and Menos looked on in awe as Dream Clown's eyes glowed for a moment.

Bumblebee was the first to feel it. An icy wind that flowed gently through the room. The others soon felt it and then the room began to blur and shift. All at once they were no longer in their sitting room. They were in a snow covered field next to an iced over river inside the childhood memory Bumblebee called up. The snow was cold, the wind had a soft bite to it, it was, in short, just as she had remembered it.

The illusion quickly faded and Dream Clown said," What I choose can become reality, a false reality but no less real for as long as I choose."

"That's all well and good, but it wouldn't do us any good to bring up a happy memory from our villain's past in a fight," Aqua lad critiqued.

Dream Clown sighed," Imagine your worst nightmare coming to life around you. Eating away at your mind, tearing at your sanity."

A shiver ran up everyone's spine at the chill in her voice all of a sudden. 'How had such a quiet girl gone to being able to hold her own against Raven at such a simple question,' Bumblebee wondered. On top of that there seemed to be this super creepy vibe coming from her Bumblebee usually only got when Raven was really pissed.

"I'm sorry, I sometimes get a little emotional," Dream Clown apologized. "So if you don't have a place for me I need to find a place for the night," so said she moved to leave.

"Wait," Bumblebee said, looking at the rest of her team," So? Does she stay?" It was group discussion weather or not to induct a new member and she wanted to make sure everyone was okay with it.

They all looked at each other and then they nodded. "I think we're all in agreement," Speedy said, smiling.

"I think we just found a place for you," Bumblebee concluded. Dream Clown smiled as the titans began to introduce themselves.

"I'm Speedy," the archer declared.

"I'm Aqua lad," the fishy teen introduced himself.

"Mas y Menos son nos nombres," the fast-paced duo declared.

"They only speak Spanish," Bumblebee explained," and I'm Bumblebee, the leader of this motley crew. It is an honor to welcome you to this team, Dream Clown. Now all we have to take care of is the initiation." Dream Clown was immediately struck by the ominous quality of the statement.

The newest member of Titan's West was saved from the unknown horrors by an alarm suddenly sounding.

"Titans GO!" the inherited catch phrase rolled off Bumblebee's tongue easily now, as it had become the norm in the past months. A communicator was tossed Dream Clown's way, and she caught it deftly. "We've got a mission, c'mon."

"I'm so glad I got out of Jump city, here in Steel city I should be able to at least earn a living," Dr. Light said as he pushed money into a bag inside of the vault of yet another bank vault. "Plus I'll never have to see that demonic witch ever again," he said, thinking of Raven. The thought of her sent a chill deep into his bones.

"Stop right there!" Bumblebee yelled.

Dr. Light turned in time to see an arrow headed his way. The arrow exploded in his face, leaving him momentarily stunned.

"There are MORE of you?" he asked unbelievingly.

"I think he's met our counterpart team," Aqua lad guessed. "and gotten his but kicked by his reaction," Speedy agreed.

"Si, Si, Ello es muy comico," Mas y Menos laughed.

"What do we do now?" Dream Clown asked.

Bumblebee got a sudden idea," Dream Clown, how about you take this guy down for your initiation?"

Dream Clown gave her a surprised look and a meek," I guess." She stepped forward to challenge the bad doctor.

"So, the best these Titans can give me is a kid whose ready to go beddy bye," Dr. Light laughed.

"I'm Dream Clown, summoner of illusions and your worst nightmares," Dream Clown proclaimed and promptly disappeared.

Dr. Light was startled, but led himself to believe it was just an illusion, like the teen had said, right? "What's the matter, you can't beat me without your tricks?"

"My 'tricks' will have you on your knees," she said in a voice completely unlike the meek one she had used earlier," try this." As her words came forth the rest of the titans faded to be replaced with dark serpents that came slithering towards the doctor. Dr. Light felt a scream well up in his throat as he shot rapid beams of energy toward the phantom snakes, which remained unaffected.

To the rest of the Titans, Dream Clown hadn't moved an inch and Dr. Light was jumping like mad shooting the ground around him, yelling about snakes.

"What's happening?" Speedy asked.

"I think it's her powers," Aqua lad concluded.

"What are your nightmares?" Dream Clown asked," What do you fear?"

"No!" Dr. Light screamed as the serpents began to expand and darken the entire vault," Not the darkness! Please!"

His cries fell on deaf ears as Dream Clown took more steps forward and finally placed her hand over his face. In that instant she saw the other Titans and how the one named Raven had terrified him. The darkness that so scared him was now hers to control. A barely audible cry escaped his lips before he fainted. She pulled back her demons from his mind gradually and sighed, 'I always loose myself in their terror when I scare someone, why?' she thought, depressed.

"Did I pass?" she asked in the meek voice she used normally.

"Yes. And let me just say; Holy Hell," Bumblebee replied.

"Give my compliments to the Titan Raven, she's the one who gave him the intense fear of the dark. It was a marvelous phobia to instill in him," Dream Clown said to her leader.

Bumblebee could only blink as their newest member walked outside, leaving a sputtering, quivering Dr. Light.

Things had finally managed to calm down in TitansWest, Raven and Jinx retreating to the sorceress' room.

"Starfire is caring, but she doesn't know what smothering means," Raven said ruefully.

"I don't really mind. I haven't had that many people be nice to me, so this is something that's new for me," Jinx admitted, sitting across from Raven on her bed. "Um, I just thought of a problem: where am I going to sleep?"

"We haven't set up a room for you yet, but if you want to you can share my room," Raven was sure that her face would spontaneously combust if she blushed any harder.

"Are you propositioning me?" Jinx asked slyly.

"Maybe," Raven said as she blushed harder.

"Good," Jinx smirked and wrapped her arms around Raven's waist. Raven melted from the warmth she felt coming from within Jinx. Jinx took the relaxation as an invitation, letting her hands roam across Raven's body. Raven's breath caught in her throat as she began to feel a spark of lust ignite, the spark grew larger as she deeply kissed Jinx. She let her own hands rove over the pink-haired girl's body.

"Raven, are you sure?" Jinx asked, concerned.

"Yes," Raven said as she kissed her again.

"Good," Jinx returned as Raven removed the first layers of Jinx's clothing. Jinx unfixed the clasp on Raven's cloak and it fell to the ground with her own discarded articles of clothing.

"How do you get this damn thing off," the bad luck charm growled, trying to remove Raven's leotard.

"There's a clasp between my legs," Raven supplied as she further stripped Jinx to her underwear, revealing a pair of very wet white panties.

Jinx ran her hand over Raven's crotch, eliciting an excited moan from the violet-haired teen. The clasp came away easily, along with the leotard itself. Raven's black bra and panties contrasted well with Jinx's own underwear. "I would have thought you didn't wear underwear," Jinx commented. Raven sparred her a mock glare," I'm a sorceress, not an exhibitionist." Having said her peace, Raven popped the clasp to Jinx's bra and tossed the garment to the ground. The blood rushed to her face as Raven began to gently massage Jinx's breasts…

"That was sooo goood," Jinx sighed, savoring the sensation of their naked forms on each other.

"We don't have to be done yet, that is, unless you're tired," Raven teased.

The glint in Jinx's eyes made Raven sure this was going to be a night she wasn't going to forget.

Robin stood outside Starfire's door, his hand raised to knock. He turned away indecisively. "Okay, Starfire I know we've been friends for a long time but..."The sentence hung in the fog of tense air around the teen. Why, why couldn't he say it? It was just three words: I love you.

"Friend Robin?" Starfire questioned the boy wonder standing out side her door. She had come down the hallway and found him in deep concentration," did you wish to have a conversation?"

Robin remained calm and acted like he hadn't just been scared out of his skin and turned," No Star, I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to go for a ride."

Starfire nodded and looked as if she wanted to say something, but swallowed it," Very well friend Robin, we will 'tie down the fort' as you say."

Robin didn't correct her; it would just confuse her more.

Rides were one of the few pleasures he allowed himself. If asked, he would say they were patrols, but they were really just an escape. A last ditch effort to air out his brain and reinforce his dwindling sanity. Clearing his mind always allowed him to think about complex subjects with a level head. Lately all he thought about at these times was Starfire, though. He took his irritation out on the acceleration and used a set of newly installed booster rockets to completely jump an offending traffic light.

"Why can't I tell her?" he asked, not to anyone in particular.

He was saved the answer by a bright flash of light. Instinct told him to hit the boosters hard. The ball of fire flew underneath him, and he pulled the bike into a three-sixty, turning to face the attacker. It was who he had already known would be there, Slade.

"Two times in one day? You're loosing your touch, Slade."

"Hello Robin, you never would have dodged that blast before I went away, I think someone's been training."

"What do you want?"

"I want you, but my master wants Raven and your team stands in the way of that. You are your team's leader, the heart and soul of the group, without you they will crumble. My master has deemed that you must die," Slade proclaimed with finality.

Robin had grown used to the almost bored, emotionless tone that Slade gave his voice so it was a little bit of a shock to hear an ounce of...regret? in his voice. Another ball of flame spurred him into action as the back wheel of his bike was melted.

Slade took the second of hesitation that Robin showed to leave his motorcycle and landed a solid kick to Robin's side.

Landing on his feet, the boy wonder drew his staff and leaped at Slade.

The few civilians who had stopped to gawk at the ensuing battle started to run as the fireballs Robin deflected went soaring into buildings, leaving debris hurtling towards them. The battle continued at the insane speeds that only two expert martial artists can keep up with. Robin gave as well as he got throughout the first few minutes, but soon his steam started to run out. Battles with Slade always went at this pace and his body just couldn't keep up with the strain. The punches and kicks that got past his guard were increasing by the second and within a minute a punch landed home, striking his breastbone and snapping it. The white-hot pain seared his brain just as the fire had actually seared the skin around the impact zone. It went downhill badly from there, but Robin fought Slade tooth and nail. A massive kick ended his left leg's participation with another snap that pushed his mind to the limit of conciousness.

"Robin!" Raven yelled, waking up in a fit of panic. "Huh," came the unintelligible reply from her nude lover.

"It's Robin, he's fighting Slade, we've got to go now!" Both teens were dressed in less than a minute. Raven looked at the clock; it was past two in the morning, why did Robin leave the tower?

She pushed the large 'T' on the communicator and the red alert sounded. She briefly noted that in her panic several items had spontaneously broken or shot across the room.

All the teens were gathered in the main room in half a minute.

"Robin, Slade, City, NOW!" That was enough for every veteran Titan. Unknown to Robin, the Titans had a practiced scenario for this occurrence. The key was speed, in this level of emergency; any spot in the city could be reached in less than five minutes.

As Slade continued to deprive Robin's battered body of oxygen a distant part of his brain registered that help was coming though the link he shared with Raven. He knew that if he couldn't break the iron grip Slade had on his neck then this fight would be over in another thirty seconds. The problem was that every limb he had was currently broken. His brain desperately reached out for every grain of energy he had and came to one conclusion: he was going to die.

He was even starting to hallucinate; he could swear that there was a woman standing behind Slade. She was see-through, like a double exposed picture and long black hair that wafted in a non-existent breeze. A white, low cut dress made her look beautiful in a motherly way, but her eyes. Her eyes had the deep pull of something familiar, but beyond the reach of his mind. A pair of white wings was motionless behind her.

"Hello Robin," she said in a voice that echoed inside his head.

Slade didn't seem to hear her, which was odd. "What do you want," he thought desperately.

"I want the safety of my daughter from this man," she responded," and for her to be safe you must live."

The pull of that thing beyond his mind got stronger," I'm having a problem doing that at the moment."

The woman gave a humorless smile," I'm here to give you a chance at life, if you want it."

"I want to defeat Slade, I'll protect your daughter if you can give me that," Robin thought with great effort.

"Then listen," as the woman said this time began to slow until an airless void surrounded him. "In the flow of time, disaster strikes many times. It is about to again. Years before each cataclysm, guardians will take up the fight. The Archer, Water, The Dream Walker, Animals, Light, Thought, and ice are among some. The four most powerful, though are: Luck, Ice, Darkness, and Fire. The one you fight now is a guardian who fell into temptation. You however, need to awaken your power. I will aid you in that respect, but then you will be alone."

Time reasserted itself and he once again felt the fingers around his neck.

Pulling out every stop, he concentrated. He could already feel conciousness slipping away and his extremities were beginning to feel cold. The cold began to spread and one word fought its way to his lips with the last puff of air in his lungs," ice."

The air between the warriors froze instantly and the ice itself exploded toward Slade, knocking him off Robin.

Life giving air pumped into the Titans lung, coming out in white puffs. He was alive.

Pulling from a store of energy he didn't know he had Robin roared and materialized a wave of ice and snow that hit a still stunned Slade head on. Robin fell to his knees as he heard," Well done Robin. You survived." Slade's voice seemed to come from nowhere, indicating as it always did, that he had left.

"Please, protect my daughter," the woman's voice pleaded inside his mind," you know her as Raven." The voice faded and he was left alone on the battlefield.

If he had had the energy to do anything but stay awake, he would have laughed. It was that insane kind of laughter that came from people who were just glad to be alive. Once the momentary ecstasy had passed Robin became aware of exactly how bad he was injured. His pumping lungs still burned, there were burns of various severities all over his body, and he was sure he had at least five broken bones.

"ROBIN!" Starfie shouted as she came into view of the boy wonder. Robin had propped himself up beside a building to keep himself awake if the pain didn't do it. Robin gave her a weak smile," hey Star. I think I have a broken rib or two, so no hugs k'."

The rest of the team arrived shortly, Raven seeing to Robin's wounds.

"'I suggest taking it easy for a while, Robin. The bones were clean breaks and I was able to mend them, but the burns will take at least a day, though. It would also be wise to see if you have a fever, one of them might have gotten infected," Raven said in the tower, two hours later. Starfire brought in a thermometer promptly and inserted it into Robin's mouth.

It beeped and the sorceress took it out," It's broken. Your body temperature can't be 65 degrees F."

"Actually, I had some interesting things happen to me during the fight," Robin said and began to explain his encounter.

"And that's what happened," he finished, his breath apparent in the air.

"Dude, you expect us to believe that the world's headed for doomsday!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"And what was up with that woman, what did she want?" Beast Boy questioned.

Robin gently dodged Beast Boy's question," Guys I'm completely thrashed, can I get some sleep?"

The Teens conceded, except for Starfire, Raven, and Jinx left.

"I got the feeling there was something you wanted to talk about," Raven prompted.

Robin looked at Starfire and Jinx," can you two keep a secret for Raven's sake?"

Dun-Dun-Dun, till next chapter…


	2. Chapter 2

"Raven, take a deep, deep breathe. Just relax," Jinx said soothingly. Robin had just explained the entire story to them and it was straining Raven's control to the limits, even with the buffering effect that Jinx's powers provided. Raven, as requested, drew a strained and shaky breath, trying to relax. It didn't work.

"Duck and cover," Raven warned in a voice that echoed with barely repressed power.

"Fuck," Jinx breathed. Robin knew this meant the shit would hit the fan, in the worst way possible. Reaching into his all-purpose utility belt and pulled out a seldom-used device. It was the one thing he never liked to use. The Lockdown initiator. He set the containment parameters to the living room and pushed the button. Immediately the emergency alarm sounded and enormous steel plates slid over the windows. The doors followed suit, leaving them sealed in the living room.

"Robin, should we not seek shelter as Raven warned," Starfire questioned as a pool of dark energy gathered around the girl in question. Adrenaline was the only thing that got the Boy Wonder up and pulling the alien princess and bad luck charm underneath the couch. This was done despite Jinx's most fervent protests.

"Let me go!" Jinx yelled.

"You get yourself killed if you run in there," Robin yelled back.

"Please Jinx, we must formulate a plan!" Star cried.

Jinx let herself go limp and try to think. Raven's powers were growing in ferocity, forming the black tentacles they were famous for. Said tentacles were ripping apart everything they could get their hands on, so to speak. Jinx knew her own powers could cancel out her lover's, but would that work on this scale. Even if it would work she would need a ladder or a black cat. If her own magic went out of control, then maybe both of them would be shocked out of it. Then again, she, Raven, or both of them could be killed. The decision took all of one second to make.

"Robin, do you have a mirror?" Jinx asked.

"Yeah, five of em, why?" Robin answered, curious about the seeming non-sequiter.

"Give them to me. My powers and Raven's can cancel each other's out, but they need to be matched. My powers grow exponentially when something like a mirror breaks," Jinx explained.

"Are you able to control your powers when they're like that?" Robin asked.

As an answer all he got was a hard, stubborn glare.

He handed over the five mirrors in his belt silently. They came in handy for looking around corners and stuff, but he never thought they'd be used for this.

Stepping on the pieces of reflective glass and hearing the cracks beneath her feet, Jinx briefly wondered what the result of this would be. She hadn't willingly done this in years, that time she had derailed a train. A tingling sensation deep within her body pulled her from her thoughts. A rumbling filled her ears, "Just let it flow, don't resist it," she reminded herself mentally. Though her power wreaked havoc, it could be truly deadly if held to the exploding point.

She could feel her eyes beginning to glow pink. It was coming.

All at once her feet were off the ground. A floating sensation now replaced the tingling one. The feeling filled her very mind, almost eclipsing her sight.

Robin watched in awe as two near limitless wells of power were poured on to each other. The entire tower was shaking now and each successive wave of energy that came into contact with the apposing energy a light started to grow in the room. It finally got to the point that Starfire and Robin had to shield their eyes. When the shaking and light peeked, an enormous explosion of pure magical force hit, rocking the room badly.

"Damn," Robin concluded as he looked about the room. Most everything was destroyed, but Jinx and Raven were lying, unconscious, on the ground, in each other's arms.

After making sure they were both breathing, Robin pressed the deactivator for the lockdown mechanism. As soon as the door was up Cyborg, Terra, and Beast Boy came rushing in.

"What happened!" Cyborg asked, looking at Jinx and Raven.

"Is everyone okay?" Terra asked, concerned.

"Dude! You killed the T.V.!" Beast Boy exclaimed with his usual tact.

After glaring at him a moment Robin spoke up," Everyone's all right. Tomorrow we'll repair the damage. Now I really need some..." Sadly Robin never finished his sentence as he fell to the ground in exhaustion.

Raven's first impression was of noise. Voices, to be exact. Her second impression was of an intense warmth within her. It was power, pure and simple. Her own power. What she guessed were the previous day's events suddenly rushed back to her. Finding her limbs tired, Raven slowly opened her eyes, blinking at the sudden brightness.

"Hey Sweetie, you awake already?" Jinx asked as she saw Raven's eyes flutter open.

"Jinx," Raven said groggily. Raven took an assessment of her condition easily enough; there were a few cuts and bruises, all bandaged. She also noticed she was in the barely used medical room, lying on a cot. Jinx was in a chair next to her. From what she could see, Robin was also in a bed, being watched over by Starfire.

"What happened?" Raven asked.

"You went a little wild and almost brought the house down, Beast Boy's still mourning the loss of his T.V.," Jinx replied comically.

"I guess you saved the day, huh?" The gothic girl stated more than asked.

"I did, didn't I? How do ya' like that?" Jinx said, scratching the back of her head. Jinx leaned down suddenly and kissed Raven on the lips. "Don't make me have to save you again. I don't want to see you in that kind of pain," Jinx pleaded.

"Did I remind you that I love you yet?" Raven asked.

Jinx smiled and kissed her again.

"Robin, friend Raven is now awake," Starfire said, ending their lover's moment.

Raven took a moment to compose herself, blushing slightly, she said," I'm sorry for not maintaining control."

Robin gave her a weak smile," It's okay Raven. All that matters is that we were able to save you without losing Jinx."

Raven gave Jinx a look that clearly said 'we'll talk later,' but turned to Robin again. "I'm also sorry if I did something to get you in here with me."

Robin blushed and looked away when she said that. "I just kind of fainted due to exhaustion. Starfire hasn't let me leave this bed except to go to the bathroom."

"May I go to my room now. Jinx and I need to talk," Raven requested.

"Cyborg gave you a clean bill of health, so if you're feeling all right, then sure," Robin responded.

Raven made to stand up, swooning dizzily and straight into Jinx's arms. "Oh No, You're not well," Jinx chastised as she picked the gothic girl up in a bridal carry, despite Raven's protests.

"I'm going to KILL Beast Boy," Raven resolved as she and Jinx stepped into her room. Beast Boy had seen them and made a few obscene comments about the situation.

"You can do that later, sleep now," Jinx ordered.

"I don't feel like sleeping," Raven responded obstinately.

"You're weak. You need to rest." Jinx countered.

Raven gave her a stubborn glare and crossed her arms on her chest. Jinx looked at her, thinking what to do, Raven answered the question for her.

"You risked your life to save me didn't you?"

"Guilty as charged," Jinx said happily.

"Why do care that much for me?" The gothic girl asked quietly, "I'm no good to anyone. I just cause trouble for everyone here. Why?" Jinx's answer to this question was a gentle and loving kiss. Crawling into the dark bed with her lover, Jinx wrapped an arm around Raven protectively. Pulling out of the kiss, Jinx nuzzled Raven's neck lightly. "You changed my life. You saved me. My guess is you've also saved your fellow Titan's lives at least once, so stop thinking of yourself as worthless. You deserve what you have and what you have is me." Raven consented to the snuggling wordlessly, but did raise one objection.

"I still don't want to go to sleep," Raven said once again.

"How about a story?" Jinx asked.

"No one's told me a story in a long time," Raven considered.

Jinx smiled and began. "Once, a long time ago and not to far away there was a little girl and her parents. Her mom had deep red hair and sky blue eyes. Her dad had light blond hair with soft golden eyes. The little girl had bright pink hair and her dad's eyes. The parents loved this child very much, but they were killed in a tragic fire. The girl was about five and knew to run from the hot flames. She ran and ran, not knowing where her parents were. Eventually a bad man found that she was special enough for a school he set up. He made the girl into the perfect thief, training her until she could steal anything. Then the girl met a kind super heroine who showed the girl the error of her ways. The pink-haired girl found that she had come to love this super heroine and visa-versa. They loved each other for the rest of their lives and met any obstacle together, beating it. The End."

The quaint way Jinx told her own life story made Raven remember that no teen in this tower was without his or her eccentricities. It was the 'natural part of being unnatural,' as Cyborg said. Jinx was no exception. She saw the world through a lawless view. Doing what she wanted to and had to. Being a HIVE member was a 'had-to,' the Titans was a 'want-to,' Raven didn't know it yet, but she was in another category altogether. 'Need.' Jinx and Raven physically needed each other. Their love actually sustained them.

"Do you have any family left Jinx?" Raven asked quietly.

"Headmaster let me know about my dad's family that carried the 'bad-luck' gene, but none of them are still alive. I never really knew my mom's family. I do remember a lady with hair like my mom's coming by with another little girl, though. I always wondered what it would be like to live a normal life, but I guess it would actually be pretty boring. I've grown used to this life. As weird as it is I kind of like the monotonous battles and living by my own rules. Especially the part about getting to sleep with you."

Jinx looked over at Raven as she finished her monologue. The sorceress was sleeping in her arms. Smiling, Jinx eased herself out of the bed, resolved to plan a dinner and night out for the two of them.

Meanwhile

Robin sighed. He was bored. Really bored, probably for the first time in his life. Starfire would not hear of him even touching a computer or lifting a finger for that matter. Between that and Starfire's cooking was beginning to bring on a slow, but steady headache.

"Star, can't I go to my room?" Robin asked for what seemed like the millionth time.

"No friend Robin. You are not fully healed yet. You may not leave until friend Cyborg says so," Starfire chided.

Robin suddenly became acutely aware of how close Starfire was to him. Her personality combined with her naiveté made close contact and hugs a normal occurrence.

Robin gulped. "So, Star...how do you feel..."

"Hey fearless leader, are we going to train today or what?" Beast Boy interrupted.

Robin sighed and looked to the annoying green teen. "No practice today BB, consider it a day off, short of emergencies, that is." Beast Boy immediately skipped off happily, saying something about Terra.

"As you were saying Robin," Star prompted politely, hoping beyond hope that Robin was going to say what he hoped he was going to say.

"Right, uhh Star how do you feel about me?" Robin said in a rush.

"Oh Captain, My Captain?" Jinx called out, invading another moment.

"Yes Jinx?" Robin growled out.

"Oops," Jinx said blushingly," I was just going to ask if I could use the computer?"

"Yes you can," Robin granted.

The pink-haired witch gave them a conspiratorially wink and cart wheeled out the door.

"You were saying?" Robin asked, eager to get on with the conversation.

"Robin, I have felt as though we were always friends, but that we have grown closer in the past weeks," Starfire said blushingly.

Encouraged by her responded, Robin continued. "Then what I really want to say, Star is that I..."

"Hey, how's our number 1 patient?" Cyborg yelled as he entered the room.

Two dark glares met his cheery greeting.

"Sorry! I'll be in my room, cowering in fear if you need me!" Cyborg cried as he fled the room.

Robin and Star looked back at each other and in a moment their lips met feverishly.

"I love you Star," Robin said breathlessly.

"I love you too, Robin," Starfire declared, equally breathless.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zenthos," Raven said slowly and deliberately. She had woken up an hour or two ago and had been meditating since then. It felt good to get her powers completely back under control. With Jinx and Slade she hadn't been able to really meditate for two or three days. It was odd, though. She felt a new emotion mingling with anger. Anger wasn't the emotion one usually pegged as 'friendly,' so naturally Raven was curious.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zenthos," she said again and let her mind fly through her mirror. Jinx knew not to disturb her while she was in a trance, but she would worry if Raven just disappeared.

Finding herself in the pathway of her mind, Raven confirmed that she was in anger's territory. All around the landscape was barren, what few grew were warped and stunted.

"Anger?" she called out in her normal monotone.

The red-cloaked Raven appeared before her. All four eyes glowing red with a kind of bored attention. "What?"

"Who's the new emotion?"

"Who said there was a new emotion?" She asked tauntingly, trying to provoke a response.

An even, steady stare was all the response given, making Anger sigh.

"Temptation?" Anger prompted. Immediately a version of herself she hadn't come across appeared. This new Raven had a black cape highlighted in reds, a composite between herself and Anger.

"Welcome. Whom do you stand for?" Raven said with a business-like voice.

"I'm your anti-conscience," she said sweetly.

The original Raven raised an eyebrow, letting the silence convey her lack of understanding as her hood was up.

"You know in all the corny movies where people have a devil and an angel on their shoulder? Well I'm the devil. I do have to admit, you didn't even bother listening to your darker tendencies until this age, I look forward to tempting you."

Raven examined this new influence on her life. Where had she come from?

"I was created to deal with the less than 'friendly' desires you have for Jinx," she supplied.

"So you're the one who's been giving me ideas," Raven acknowledged. She had had a series of fun, but dirty images in her mind having to do with Jinx lately.

"No need to thank me, just doing my job," the Raven smiled, "Now if you don't mind Anger and I have some thing to finish up." The hand around Anger's waist was and all too obvious hint. Raven decided to leave quickly.

"Too of my emotions are sleeping together," Raven said aloud, alarmed that the notion itself wasn't that alarming, was she that weird?

"That's almost as interesting as it disturbing," Jinx commented.

Jinx only giggled slightly at the half-hearted glare Raven sent her way.

"Wanna go out?" Jinx asked suddenly," Our Captain gave us the day off, no petty crimes or anything, just emergencies."

"A date? I'd like that," Raven resolved.

"C'mon then, let's go, lazy!" Jinx cried, forcing Raven into her closet. She slipped into a new set of clothes herself.

"Do I dare ask what you have planned," Raven asked, walking at a sedate pace. She had a pair of black dress pants on and a white dress shirt. The fact that she had opted to retain her cape made some passersby think that they saw a vampire. Jinx had opted for a long, tight, purple dress, accenting her pink hair, which she had let down for tonight.

It was around three and the sun was still up as Jinx led Raven into a restaurant. It was a nice place, suited to those who could throw money around. About halfway through dinner Raven couldn't take it anymore.

"Okay, how are you paying for this, and be honest. If you aren't I'll know," she said.

"Have you ever heard of a victimless crime Raven?" Jinx asked.

"Non-existent," the Goth responded automatically, not liking how Jinx had chosen to start the conversation.

"If we were to skip out," Jinx said conspiratorially," who would we hurt? The business that charges way too much? The staff that makes more money in tips than the average working businessman? The manager or the cook, who'll each go home to a house full of servants, will they be hurt? I fail to see the victim."

Raven's brows furrowed. It was tempting, but..."No, it's wrong, someone would get blamed for not catching us."

"Why are you so afraid of doing something wrong Raven," Jinx pressured.

There was a still silence before Raven answered. "This goes nowhere beyond us." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Remember when I mentioned my...family tree? I'm afraid that if I ever do anything to hurt anyone, anything wrong I'll like it and become like 'him.'"

It was clear by the intonation that Raven gave to the word that she meant her dad.

"You remember when you told me what Slade had said about that prophecy, don't you think you're just playing into it?" At Raven's clueless look she elaborated," You will become what you have hidden; something like that? If you like being bad, stealing stuff AND saving the day as a hero, then why not? It's who you are."

"I hadn't thought of that," Raven admitted," but it's not that easy. I can't just steal something."

"Why not?" Jinx said with an edge," Give me one good reason. Not one of those excuses you give everyone else."

"Because I couldn't face myself, or you," Raven admitted very quietly.

"First off you have nothing to fear from me. And second, if you can't even acknowledge a part of yourself, then you won't win a single battle. The only reason that I brought this up was that I've seen you concentrating the last few days. It didn't take a genius to guess what a longing, sympathetic glance at a common thief meant."

Raven was silent a long time before saying, "If we both go to the bathroom I can open a portal to the outside."

Jinx smiled, enjoying her victory.

"So, what now?" Raven asked.

"Well, we could go back to the tower, or we could go on a crime spree," Jinx said, smirking, "That is if you liked your first taste of a life of crime?"

"No one can get hurt," Raven said with certainty. "I'm only doing this for myself, no one should be hurt because of me."

"That's your motivation to be silent and unseen," Jinx pointed out. "I think there's a jewelry store down this way that closed a few hours ago."

Raven followed warily at Jinx's side as she led them to an alleyway next to a store. Raven recognized the name as one of the larger retail outlets for gems. That meant it wouldn't go out of business if they did take a few stones. She was starting to feel an odd sensation inside herself. It was the same thrill she got from a fight or the feeling that one of Jinx's kisses.

She put the sensation out of mind and watched as Jinx ran a finger along a computerized lock. The digit glowed pink and a few sparks flew out of the number pad. "Gotta love the bad luck," Jinx smirked.

Raven sat at the computer. It was the day after she and Jinx had...acquired some jewelry. Jinx couldn't get her to admit it, but she really did like stealing. The fact that she was wearing a diamond studded, golden necklace was proof enough of that. Jinx was still sleeping so she had taken this time to do a little searching on the net.

In short she had decided to find Jinx's family. She had started by using some old files that the Titan's had confiscated from the hive. She had used that to calculate the hive's bases and cross-reference that with a list that she had by searching the public archives of fires that occurred in private residences around the time Jinx would have been five.

Once that was done it was a simple matter of sorting through the remaining files by hand. "Five-hundred," Raven muttered. The number was a little higher than she had expected, which was bad. There had to be a way to lower the number. Raven thought for a moment and brought up another two windows. She brought up a list of missing persons form that year and cross-referenced those with a list of those that were confirmed dead. She then took the set of names on that list and cross-referenced it with the list that she had already created.

Looking at the confirmed names she smiled. "There are five families are still missing that lived in houses that burned down in the vicinity of hive bases," she said to herself, already clicking on the first file. The first two files were families that had multiple children. The next one didn't have any children, so they were all immediately crossed off. The last two were harder. They both had single children and they were both girls. The break came when she noticed that one of the files had a picture on it. The man and woman both fit Jinx's description. Not to mention that the child had bright, pink hair.

"Catherine Mara," Raven hummed. "If Mara is her father's name then what was her mother's?" Soon Raven had a wealth of information about Jinx's family. Evidently all the father's family was dead, just as Jinx had said, but the mother had a sister. Her name was Caitlin, but she had married, so instead of her maiden name, her last name was Possible. She had a daughter and a set of twins, both boys. "Possible? Why does that sound so familiar?" Raven said to herself.

She soon found her answer. Kim Possible, the daughter, had been saving the world from various evildoers for years, and as a result, had been in quite a few newspapers and television news coverage. Interestingly enough, Jinx's aunt was a brain surgeon and her uncle was a rocket scientist. There were several references to the twins, but almost all of them involved explosions. "Interesting family," Raven commented as she printed out several sheets of paper, which included a map to the Possible residence. By the time it took to find Robin, she had already formulated a plan of action.

She found the Boy Wonder walking out of Starfire's room with a satisfied smile on his face.

"I'm going to ignore the implications of this situation in light of the fact that you let Jinx and I share a room," Raven said in her normal monotone. Robin cheeks reddened slightly.

"Did you want to talk to me about something?" Robin asked, changing the subject.

Raven wordlessly handed over the papers she had been carrying.

Robin's eyes widened as he realized exactly who he was looking at.

"I assume you want to go there?" He asked, rereading some of the information.

"There is the matter of my two years worth of unspent vacation days," Raven said, hinting and moved to go.

"I'll tell her you had to leave on an urgent mission. She'll probably be mad at you though," Robin said as he handed the set of papers back.

Raven refrained from asking how he knew that she wouldn't be asking Jinx to come along. She had thought it best to make sure that the Possibles would accept Jinx before she met them. She knew first hand how bad rejection could be. As she walked to her room a few lights exploded as she thought of Melchoir. She quickly stopped by and grabbed a bag of clothes and a wallet with a few hundreds in it. Kissing Jinx goodbye, she left before her lover would wake up.

Bumblebee sighed. She missed Cyborg. She could tell that they had something. They were both competitive to the point of obsession and they could both get a little childish. Now that Aqua lad and Speedy were a little 'closer' and as a result were spending a lot of time together, she didn't really have anyone to spend much time with except the new member, Dream Clown.

"Guy trouble?" a voice asked.

Bumblebee looked to the source, startled. It was Dream Clown," Wanna talk about it? You had that lonely look on your face."

"That lonely look?" Bumblebee asked. Was she making a habit of staring off into space?

"That look that says that you really miss someone. To someone who is...receptive, like me, it kind of yells out that you want to see that special someone," Dream Clown summed up. Almost absently, she continued, "Kinda' how I look when I'm thinking about my moms."

"Moms?" Bumblebee asked, her question referring to the plural.

"Ops," Dream Clown said, obviously having said something she wasn't supposed to.

"Spill," Bumblebee ordered.

"I guess I wasn't completely honest about my background, but it was the truth, albeit an edited version," Dream Clown conceded.

"You don't really have to tell the others, and I'm not saying you have to tell me either, but since I am your leader...if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm free," Bumblebee hinted and moved to leave. A hand pulled her back.

"I'll tell you my past, everything, but we need to go somewhere private," Dream Clown said, resigned.

A minute later, the two girls were sitting on the bed in Dream Clown's room.

"So," Bumblebee prompted.

Dream Clown sighed, "Just so long as you realize that I'm still the same person you knew before I told you." Without stopping, Dream Clown continued," I was telling the truth about my dad before, I never knew him, but my 'real' mother did. They were...partners...in crime." Bumblebee raised her eyebrows, but said nothing. "You probably know them...Harley Quinn and The Joker." THAT admission brought the expected response. "YOU'RE whose daughter!"

After a moment, Bumblebee had calmed enough to continue the story, "So, anyway, from what I can gather, my dad wasn't that nice to my mom, I believe the exact terminology my other mom used to describe him was: "one sick fuck." Well, when my other mom saw how The Joker was treating Harley she made sure that he didn't have enough whole bones left to move with. Because I know you're wondering, my other mom is Poison Ivy."

The second unavoidable outburst came at that statement. "Wait one minute, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy are GAY!" Bumblebee screamed.

Dream Clown sighed in ascension, moving on to another part of her story. "I kinda' got tired of the whole 'on the run' thing and I wanted to try living life on the other side of the law. That pretty much brings us to where we are now. I like it here and I'm not really planning on backstabbing you guys, so I'd like to stay. Please?"

Even though Dream Clown's facial expressions were non-existent due to her choice of costume, Bumblebee knew a plea when she heard it.

"I couldn't exactly kick you off the team after the job you pulled on Dr. Light, just take my advice and mix family and your responsibilities to the team; it will make you make coaches you don't want to make," Bumblebee advised.

"Thank you, O mighty leader," Dream Clown said appreciatively.

"Hey, what did you mean when you said 'Receptive?'" Bumblebee asked, moving out the door and along the hall with her.

"I'm kind of like a receiver and a transmitter. I can turn of the transmitter, but the receiver sometimes stays on, and I get insight to some people's emotions," she explained as she poured some milk.

"What do you pick up from Aqua lad and Speedy?" Bumblebee asked interestedly.

"I don't try to listen," Dream Clown said quietly," but I get a really happy vibe from them. Like they're both on cloud nine."

Bumblebee was about to say something, but the alarm went off, alerting them to an emergency.

In another part of the nation another Teen Titan was lost, very lost, and that titan was, disturbingly enough, Raven. Trying to make her way to the home of Kim Possible, Raven took the infamous left turn at Albuquerque. As a result, she was pretty sure that she was somewhere near Florida.

The person who she was seeking wasn't even home at the moment, though. Kim Possible, not matter how normal in appearance, saved the world on an almost daily basis. She was currently working on doing so once again. Or, sorta'...

"Remind me never to give Ron the day off ever again," Kim thought to herself as she hung, chained from the wall, in DN Amy's lair. In a not so original move, Drakken and Amy had teemed up. This meant she had to deal with mutant beasts and...Shego. The beasts had been no problem, but Shego, well, Shego had deviated from her normal tactics of beating her into submission. A blush the color of her hair stained her cheeks as she remembered the battle.

Kim had, in her subtle way, destroyed the entirety of Amy's forces and burst through the large door to the villain's chambers. Shego had been waiting.

A few well-placed kicks and Kim was on the defensive. They had taken the fight away from Drakken, and because of his lack of security cameras, he hadn't even noticed that the quarrel had moved to the storage bay.

Shego cornered her in an isle between two long piles of boxes. The raven-haired girl had, in an attempt to restrain Kim, grabbed her wrists, pinning them above her head.

Kim's eyes widened as she realized the position she was in.

Shego was almost shocked to find she enjoying the power that she now held over the redhead. Almost. Shifting the grip of Kim's wrists to her left hand and ran her left hand along Kin's face. A shiver ran up the cheerleader's spine at that touch; it sparked something. Something very deep, and...Warm? It was slightly familiar, but strange at the same time.

For what she realized must have been the first time, Kim looked into Shego's eyes. Her own eyes. Deep green that reflected that one feeling that filled both of their minds. Shego's eyes gave Kim the knowledge she so desperately craved. That glint...

Lust. Want. Need.

Shego knew it too. Kim's last rational thought passed out of mind as their lips met. Shego had been slowly closing the distance between them and the inevitable had finally happened. 'She tastes sweet,' Shego thought as she deepened the kiss. It had started slow and soft, but now it was war. A battle for dominance not unlike the one they were recently fighting. Shego had the dominant position, but Kim wasn't about to give up.

They both finally pulled away, completely breathless.

"Why," Kim breathed.

"Because we both want it," Shego smirked. Another kiss followed, this time more fiery. When they pulled away, Kim was about to say something, but Drakken interrupted them.

"Good work Shego, you caught Kim Possible!"

That pretty much brought them to where they are now. Kim Possible hung, chained from a wall, not able to do anything but think, that and look at Shego.

Had it been a trick? Some kind of plan? It didn't feel like one, Kim thought drearily. That and Shego actually looked like she didn't want to see Kim up there for once.

"So, Kim Possible, I bet you'd like to know what I've planned for you, eh?" Drakken said, savoring it.

"Not really. I would think that you're just going to put me in some nearly impossible situation and let me to my doom. Then I would escape and knock you down a notch or two," The redhead sighed.

Drakken's smirk widened. "Actually, Miss Amy is going to use you as a test subject and if she happens to make a loyal servant out of you, then Shego will have a partner."

"WHAT?" Shego all but screamed. "That was not in the plan Doc., what gives?"

"Do you object, Shego?" Drakken asked almost non-chalantly.

"Damn right I do!" Shego cried, her powers rising to her command.

"Oh well, I had hoped to spare you this pain, Shego, but you always have been a little less loyal than I'd have liked," Drakken said and pressed a button. Two very large metal arms came from the wall and grabbed Shego's hands. Though vicious, Shego did very little damage to the claws. Even her plasma-powered assault failed to breach the metal arms.

Needless to say, Shego was soon hauled up beside the teen-hero, while thrashing like a tornado.

"Don't worry Shego, a little operation and you'll be free to serve Dr. Drakken," Amy taunted.

Shego stopped thrashing violently and grew disturbingly still. "Drakken," she said in a quiet, but deadly voice that would make any sane person fear for their life," when I get out of this, and I will, you are going to wish for a far quicker, and much less painful death."

Obviously Drakken was less than sane, taking the threat in stride.

Amy just smiled and operated two robotic arms to retrieve blood samples from the two, less-than-willing volunteers.

"We'll be back in just one little second you two, so just sit tight!" The two evil geniuses proceeded to leave the room, because, as luck, and a timely plot twist, would have it, the gene-testing equipment were in a different room.

"I'll kill him, I WILL kill him," Shego fumed.

"Not to put a damper on your psychotic yammering, but can we get out of here first?" Kim interjected.

"No way, I stole these from Dr. Dementor, they were designed to hold something the strength of an elephant and they have a thin layer of nanomachines. You know how effective my powers are against those."

"Okay then, since there's no hope of escape until Drakken screws something up, I think we should have a civil conversation."

"What about? How to most effectively dismember Drakken?"

"No I was thinking about the whole shift from you wanting to kill me to wanting to sleep with me?"

Shego rolled her eyes. "If you must know, I'm a lesbian and I've always thought you were cute. There was just never a good opportunity to, well, you know."

"Although this is a slightly disturbing concept, it does explain the way you look at me during a lot of our fights..."

"Newsflash Kimmie, you returned a lot of those looks," Shego sneered.

With a blush, Kim managed," I guess I did. In all fairness, I can't say I don't find you UNattractive. By the way, why do you call me 'Kimmie,' only my mom and dad do that besides you."

"Am I not allowed to have a pet name for a rival that I secretly find really hot?"

"I'm not answering that. So, assuming we get out of this alive, you, I don't know, wanna' go out or something?"

"As in a date? I guess that would be fun."

"This is going to complicate my saving the world, isn't it?"

"Actually I think I'll go freelance for a while. Drakken paid well, but stealing for myself is so much more rewarding."

"Why do you like stealing, Shego. You're constantly on the run from the law. I don't see the point in it."

Shego snorted. "Yes you do, Kimmie, you just don't want to admit it. It's part of what makes people who they are. No one wants to say that the other side has a valid viewpoint, except in some cases, and so wars are fought, and people die."

"You're getting a little deep there, Shego," Kim warned.

Shego suddenly smiled. "Hey, Kimmie, you wanna come with me on one of my 'errands,' you never know, you might like it."

"I'll help you steal something the day you help me save the world," Kim replied evenly.

"Fair enough. Okay, I'm out of stuff to talk about, how about you?"

"Me too, what's taking them so long?" Kim sighed.

A long silence seemed to stretch out, neither knowing what to say.

"You and the buffoon ever screw?" Shego asked off-handedly.

Kim literally choked on her answer. "No! Ron and I are just friends, that would be like you and Drakken sleeping to gather."

"Shego repressed a shudder. "I promise to never bring this up again if you do."

Before the conversation could go down any more wrong turns, the door to the lab opened and a satisfied looking Drakken rolled out a large laser set up.

"I hereby present the Gene-Canon!" Drakken said smilingly.

"Okay, so what's it do?" Shego asked.

Amy saved Dr. Drakken the trouble of asking her to answer the question for him. "It is designed to sever DNA strands and modify them according to the whims of the operator or you can turn recessive genes on and dominant ones off. Quite a fun toy really."

"Out of pure, morbid, curiosity, what do you plan on turning us into?" Kim asked. This was really a stall question. If she could get the not-so-good-Doctor into a monologue, then Ron, if he knew she was in trouble, could have a little more time to get here.

"Actually, Kim, we don't need to turn you into anything. Both you and Shego have some very interesting recessive genes. Not at all what normal humans should have." Amy commented.

"But Shego and I, for the most part, are normal humans," Kim argued.

"That's true, but your genes go about making you in a different way than most people. You see, when most peoples DNA tells the body how to build it does so in Chromosomes. These are made up by to genes. A dominant and recessive, or what you become and what you don't. Your chromosomes are made up of three genes. A dominant and two recessives. One of the recessives was your normal opposite of the dominant, but the second was...well, unusual is the best way to put it."

"Meaning?" Shego prompted.

"Meaning, what we're going to do is turn on some of those genes. I'd like to say this isn't going to hurt, but, well you know I'd be lying," Drakken laughed.

"You cock-sucking asshole! I'll kill you, Damn IT!" Shego cried, pulling at her chains fruitlessly.

"Now would be a good time Ron," Kim whispered to herself as Drakken pushed the ray into position.

"If you don't survive Kim Possible, it was nice having you as a foe," Dakken said as he pressed the activation switch.

Mrs. Dr. Possible gasped as she felt the plate slip through her fingers and land on the floor with a shatter.

"I'm okay, Honey," she said as Mr. Dr. Possible moved to aid her. She slowly squatted down and started to pick up the shattered remnants. "And this was the plate Kim made for us in art class too," she mourned. The doorbell cut through her thoughts as she laid the shards on the counter.

"We'll get it!" came the dual voices. Jim and Tim. She really hoped that they didn't scare whoever it was away.

Jim and Tim opened the door, expecting a door-to-door salesman. What they weren't expecting was a very dark, wraith-like woman standing in their doorway.

"Wow," Tim breathed.

"Yeah cool," Jim agreed.

The figure, though they couldn't see the upper portions of her face, smiled appreciatively. "Hello, is your mom or dad home?" Raven asked politely.

"Mom!" there's someone really cool here to see you!" They cried and ran off. If the woman in the door way wasn't here to talk to them then it wasn't there concern really.

Mrs. Dr. Possible stepped into the entryway and blinked. "I'm sorry, but if you're one of Kim's villain friends then she's not here fight now."

Raven resisted the urge to laugh. Her outfit was dark, but a villain? "Actually Mrs. Possible, or do you prefer Dr., I came here to talk to you, if you have the time?"

"Mrs. is fine and I have a little time before I have to get dinner started. Follow me into the dinning room," so said the doctor led the way deeper into the house. Raven followed and shut the door in her wake.

"So, can I get you something? Water, milk?" The Dr. asked politely.

"Tea would be nice." Mrs. Possible put a kettle of water onto the burner and motioned for her to sit down.

"Are you one of Kim's friends from school then?"

"No, I really came here to talk to you about a different member of your family."

The elder of the two women's brows furrowed. "If this is about Jim and Tim blowing something up, then..."

"I'm sorry. Maybe I should introduce myself first. My name is Raven I'm a Teen Titan. We are a group of teenage superheroes who protect Jump City. We recently had a new addition to the team. I had to do considerable searching for this file but.." Raven slipped a vanilla folder from her cloak and handed it to the doctor.

Mrs. Possible took the folder and slowly opened it. She gasped quite loudly when it was opened. Raven knew what she was seeing. It was a picture of her sister, her brother-in-law, and Jinx. Tears filled her eyes as she look through the rest of the papers. Raven saw a tissue box and eased it within reach of the crying woman.

After allowing her the time to dry her tears, Raven spoke. "Her name, or at least the one she goes by, is Jinx. I felt that you should know she is alive, since she is a part of your family."

"Raven your are, no doubt, very giving, but why? You wouldn't come all this way for just a teammate. It's possible, but doubtful."

Raven sighed and lowered her hood. "Mrs. Possible, how are you at accepting...'alternative lifestyles?'" Raven looked down at her feet. She didn't meet the older woman's gaze.

Mrs. Possible saw the obvious point to the question. She carefully asked," How do you feel about my niece, Raven?"

The answer took Raven little to no time to compile. "She's more important to me than the air I breathe. Dearer to me than my own life. I lack the words to really describe what she is to me. She is warmth, acceptance, and light in a world of darkness. I know this all sounds cliché but believe me I do love her, with all my heart and soul and would never let anyone hurt her."

Mrs. Possible got up wordlessly and wrapped her arms around Raven's neck. Raven tensed, not really knowing what to do. She knew what she'd so with Jinx, but...

She ended up being saved the trouble by a whistling kettle.

"Tell me about my niece, Raven. I want to know everything." Mrs. Possible requested.

The Titan's East group was at the scene of the break in.

"So, who's it this time?" Speedy asked.

"The authorities said something about a former hive member," Aqua lad supplied.

Taking the que supplied by some all-knowing entity, a figure strode into the light of the museum they were in.

"Hello...students," the sneering voice of Brother Blood called out.

Several shocked faces and one unimpressed one.

"Who's this loser?" Dream Clown asked. The resulting situation would have been funny if the rest of the titans hadn't know how deadly the man in front of them could be.

"Loser! Loser! You have no idea who you're talking to!" Blood exclaimed, his eyes lighting up as he threw a rather large piece of stairway at them. As they scattered, Blood sought out Dream Clown with a vengeance, and tackled her to the ground. Blood roughly pushed her against a wall; "You will be a nice addition to my class once I give you a 'discipline' lesson." The ensuing lesson would have happened if a blur hadn't knocked Blood back a few steps.

"Muchas Gracias," Dream Clown said, the to Spanish superheroes help her up.

"De nada," they assured her, both returning to the fray as Speedy shot an arrow at Blood.

Blood kept the combat close as the battle went on. It prevented Speedy from using his arrows and vastly limited Bumblebee from using her Cestus. Blood made short work of both Mas and Menos and Aqua lad soon joined them. Using what she knew of Speedy's technique, Dream Clown was able to weave in and out of his moves with Bumblebee, and sink a few light punches that obviously had no effect.

Speedy and Bumblebee were both swatted out of the battle soon after, leaving only Blood and Dream Clown.

"Okay, I take it back, you're not a loser, just a really evil asshole," Dream Clown smirked.

"And you my dear are a very troublesome student, but you pale in comparison to Cyborg. To you I am more than a god; you cannot even begin to compare with me. I haven't even seen one exceptional ability of yours." Blood sneered at the young warrior.

"My abilities are none of your concern, but if you must know, then I'll be happy to give you a DEMONSTRATION!" As Dream Clown yelled her declaration aloud a white light burst forth from her eyes, blinding Brother Blood. When the deranged teacher opened his eyes the scenery had undergone a definite change.

They were in a cave. A deep, dark, cave. "How are you doing this?" Brother Blood asked.

"Can't see, can you?" Dream Clown asked in return. Blood gave an angry growl as he felt a blow connect solidly with the back of his head.

"I may not be able to see you, but I can feel your thoughts," Blood snarled as he wrapped his own mind around the teens.

"You can't fight me..." Blood taunted as he tunneled deeper into the girl's mind.

Pain.

There were other words for it: agony, torture, but this went deeper than mere words, as all true sensations do. One may wonder why human speech developed at all if it was just created to hamper our communicative abilities. But I digress...

Pain was the one thing that both Shego and Kim Possible thought they could handle with relative ease. It was a constant for both of their lines of work. Broken bones. Bruises. Sprains and burns, these were all normal and they had recovered from each in their own time.

The best way to describe what the laser felt like when it hit them would be to imagine a white-hot needle being run through your eye. Take that pain, multiply it by one billion, and take it to every square inch of your skin, muscle, and bone. After the first few seconds of unbelievable agony, Kim realized with a sense of detachment that she had been screaming. She vaguely heard Shego's voice raised in a like scream.

After two full minutes the complete loss of sensation due to the searing pain was setting in, so a kind of thought was possible.

"I wonder what this ray is going to turn me into?" Kim pondered. 'Skin tearing...back burning.'

The oddest sensations were taking hold now. It felt as if her skin was starting to flake off, like she was shedding or something. She managed to open her eyes for a second, but all she could see was the gloating face of Drakken. That one image made her see red, figuratively speaking. That was weird in and of itself. Drakken had irritated her. Made her mad, maybe, but never actually gotten her to the point of blind, homicidal rage. This was beyond even that though. It was like she was seeing for the first time. Instincts were awakening that she never knew existed. They told her to rip his throat out and chow down on his heart. Another odd thing in the list of things that happened today was that Kim didn't actually find that thought disturbing, stomach turning, or vomit inducing. The thought of her hands, bathed in blood, running them along Shego's body, letting the raw red liquid cover them...Kim felt a shiver run through her mind. That image was arousing, damn it! Why?

The answer to the question escaped her as the pain intensified three-fold. She was pretty sure the skin on her back had ripped open for some reason and there was an intense burning sensation along her arms, legs, and inside her body. It was as if she was being burned alive!

Drakken and Amy watched in a kind of sadistic glee as Kim and Shego screamed. The 'treatment' had been going on for a good ten minutes now and it was almost done. It was almost a shame their bodies couldn't be seen in the tense light of the laser. He wanted to know what hideous monster Kim Possible would turn into. The timer finally went off, and with it the ray. What Drakken saw next scared and delighted him at the same time.

Two sets of green eyes snapped open. The lack of conscious thought behind them finally drove the mistake he had made home. He should have turned them into mind slaves beforehand. The two...devils, that was the only word for them he had right now, snapped their chains like straw. They dropped to the floor, landing on all fours in a kind of crouch.

Sadly Drakken and Amy were already in an escape capsule, launching themselves into a suborbital path to another of Drakken's many lairs.

That only left A transformed Kim and Shego to wreak havoc among the many beasts that Amy left behind.


	3. Chapter 3

Jinx was beginning to get irritated now. When she woke up, Raven was gone. Starfire was in her room asleep, so obviously she didn't know where Raven was. Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Terra were playing videogames in the common room; they didn't know where she was either. Now she was looking for Robin. Where would he be, that is the question, Jinx thought comically.

"The training hall," she said out loud, to herself.

Jinx opened the door to the training room and shivered. It must have been below twenty! There was ice over several sections of the walls, creating a kind of otherworldly feel about it.

After the ice, the thing she noticed next was Robin. He was facing a training dummy, breathing hard and dressed in nothing more than what looked to be a light gi. She watched as his right fist struck out and hit the dummy at speed Jinx's eyes could barely keep up with. That portion of the figure froze over before his hand even made contact and shatter into hundreds of shards at the connection.

The applause that issued forth from Jinx caught the Boy Wonder off guard. He twisted around in a tight stance.

"Oh, sorry Jinx, what's up?"

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to get a grip on my powers. I can see why Raven and Terra have to work so hard. Did you want something?"

"Oh yeah, have you seen Raven?"

"She's on a mission." Came the mechanical reply.

Jinx pouted," why didn't she tell me?"

"It was last minute and top secret," Robin said, trying to ignore the hurt face Jinx was displaying.

"Can you at lest tell me where she went?"

"Sorry, but no."

"Aw, why not?" Jinx asked, pouting.

"Top secret," Robin repeated.

Jinx only growled and left Robin to his practice.

Kim came to her senses. The sight she awoke to wasn't a pleasant one. The first thing she noticed was that she was covered in blood that was her own. Next, her clothes were in tatters. Next, she had claws. This was where most people would faint, but Kim had been through one too many sets of genetic alteration to care that much.

Shego was next to her. She was in a similar state. "Stay calm, make a plan, stay calm." She told herself.

Another teen minutes later and both Kim and Shego were up, clean from using nothing short of a hose, and taking account of their bodies in Shego's room of the lair.

"Do we have a body count?" Kim asked worriedly as she moped on the bed.

"No Drakken or Amy, but at least fifteen of her 'babies.'" Shego groused. Kim could tell she was pissed off. Hell, she was too.

"You're growling," Shego said blandly.

Kim winced. It was bad enough she was stuck in this body, but growling? Kim glanced down at herself. Through the rips and tears of her mission clothes, a full body covering of red scales was visible. She hadn't seen a mirror yet, but she could get that her face had a matching coat. The scales were like a coat of armor; they ran down to her feet and hands where instead of digits and toes, there were sharp talons. If that didn't top it off, she knew what did: a tail and a set of wings. Wings! Before her body was fit, but know there was raw power surging through every muscle.

Shego looked to be in the same predicament, her tail was twitching side to side from nervous energy, her body had undergone like changes. Instead of the red color Kim was granted, Shego's scales were a deep black. Her wings and tail were like-wised colored.

"What are my parents going to say when they see me like this?" Kim pondered out loud.

"Red's your color?" Shego replied snidely.

"Not funny Shego. I'm going to call Wade and hope he can fix this," Kim said as she retrieved her ever-present Kimmunicator.

"Wade?" she said hesitantly.

"Hey Kim, I AAAAAAHHHHHH!" Wade screamed.

"Wade, calm down, it's me, Kim."

"Kim, you're looking...different, I was about to call. You don't usually take this long to deal with a villain even if it is Drakken and Amy."

"Things got...complicated. I was wondering if you could, well, turn me back to normal?"

"Let me do a quick scan...hold the Kimmunicator at arm's length," Wade asked as he started typing.

As she did a stream of light moved over her body. Wade studied the data for a moment before speaking," Okay Kim it looks like your body has been changed on a genetic level..."

"Amy already explained that part Wade, I just want to know if it's reversible or not," Kim asked.

"I'll have to look over it some more, but right now I can say that it would be dangerous to try. Your genetic material just underwent a change most people couldn't survive."

"Thanks Wade. Is there anything you have to at least make me look normal?"

"There should be an image synthesizer mode on the Kimmunicator."

"Is there anyway that you could do that for someone else?"

"Someone else? I thought Ron was hanging with Felix tonight. He couldn't have gotten hit by the whatever it was."

"It's not Ron. Its, well, Shego."

The villainess in question was sitting on a chair watching with an unreadable expression on her face. Why was Kim bothering to call in a favor for her? She shrugged. Kim was a good 'guy,' it was what they did. The real question was, did she want it to be more than that? Yes. It was an easy answer. She wanted Kim to like her. She wanted to do things for Kim; maybe she could actually have a 'normal' relationship for once.

"Shego?" Wade replied questioningly.

"It's a long story, Wade, but, for the time being at least, Shego's not a bad guy. She and Drakken had a...falling out."

"Well, Kim, I'll upload the data to the Kimmunicator. It should be able to cast a wide enough hologram that it will cover both you and Shego. I'll get to work on an image inducer in the mean time. One for you and one for Shego."

"Thanks Wade, I can't tell you how much this means to me."

"No problem Kim, just push the button when you want to turn the hologram on and off."

Kim put the Kimmunicator away wordlessly, and then a thought occurred to her, "Shego, where are you going to sleep tonight?"

Shego blinked. She didn't want to spend the night in the lair, not with it full of carcasses. "I think I'll make my way to one of the houses I own."

"Oh, well I was going to offer my house if you didn't have anywhere to go." Kim seemed mildly disappointed at the prospect of having to say 'good bye' to Shego.

"A night in the Possible household, something to brag about if nothing else," Shego mused, "I think that'd be nice. I accept."

"Are you sure there isn't another way home?" Kim asked warily.

"If you have wings, you were meant to fly," Shego responded and pushed Kim further towards the drop, "and besides, you should of asked the nerd for a ride if you didn't want to resort to a more natural means of transportation.

"You first," Kim ordered.

Shego sighed, "fine." She walked forward and flexed her wings; they responded to her every whim. She took one more step and jumped, wings spread. Kim gasped, but stared, wide-eyed as Shego flew back up to the balcony of Drakken's lair. She hung in mid-air, hovering by flapping her wings.

"Water's fine," she joked.

Kim gulped and spread her own wings and took that final step. The dizzying fall lasted but moments as newfound instincts rose and she was up! "This is fun!" Kim cried, amazed. There was an immediate difference between parachuting and bungee jumping. Flying, feeling the wind in your wings, it was like an indescribable high. To have total freedom of movement at your fingertips, it was exhilarating.

"Looks like someone's enjoying herself," Shego said wryly.

Kim mentally cursed herself for allowing a stupidly happy grin to slide across her face.

"I didn't know flying could be so fun," Kim defended.

Shego snorted," I just don't see how someone who regularly parachutes, ejects out of, and sky dives from planes can be chicken about using a pair of wings on her own back."

"I always have a safety line or something to guarantee my safety, just jumping off a cliff with nothing, but myself was never high on my list of priorities."

"I'll bet growing wings wasn't either," Shego amended.

"Fair enough," Kim admitted as they pulled away from the fortress. Shego would never admit it, but flying was fun; right up there with seeing Kim smile.

"Where am I?" Dream Clown asked herself. She looked around and found the rest of her team sitting, unconscious, inside the museum where they had been fighting…Brother Blood! The female hero looked around once again, but he wasn't there. That was another weird thing; there wasn't any damage. Dream Clown was sure that they had caused at least a little damage to the room the fight had taken place in.

That was when she noticed a small piece of paper on the floor next to her. It read simply:

Sorry about the mind control.

-X

"X," she whispered. So, it was a dream? That's right! She remembered a strange white light; at the time she hadn't thought anything of it. Then they were fighting Brother Blood. So that explained why she had dreamed about fighting Blood, but had never seen him in real life. This X person must have set up a scenario that they wouldn't question while he…

Stole something! The question was what? And why?

"Anyone get the number of that truck?" She heard a voice ask. It was Speedy. He seemed to come to his senses and asked, "Where'd Blood go!"

The next few minutes were taken to wake up all of the Titan's East team and explaining what had just happened to them.

"Wait one minute!" Aqua lad shouted. "Robin told me about Red X!"

"_Red _X?" Speedy asked questioningly.

"Yeah, he's supposed to be a master thief. He stole the Red X suit that Robin made out of a safe that _Robin_ created." Aqua lad supplied.

"You're joking, right?" Bumblebee exclaimed. "I've seen Robin's security, it makes Fort Knocks look like a department store!"

"What did he take though?" Speedy asked.

"Aqui, Aqui," Mas y Menos yelled.

"The Cartography Tome," Aqua lad read from the now-empty case.

"What's cartography?" Speedy asked.

"It's the study of maps," Bumblebee supplied.

"Maps to what; that's the question," Aqua lad countered. Dream Clown took a look at the description. The book was a compilation of ancient maps, most of which had been discarded a few hundred years ago as nothing but nonsense. She pointed the plak out to her team.

"Why would X want a book of ancient maps though?" Aqua Lad asked.

"Cyborg, what are you up to," Jinx asked from the doorway.

"Oh, hey Jinx, what up?" The man-machine returned.

"Raven's out right now, so I'm kind of bored. What's this?" Jinx gestured to a large pile of parts and a half-constructed piece of machinery.

"That? That's kind of a hobby I've taken up. You probably remember Bumblebee, Right?" Jinx made a gesture in the affirmative. "Well, I'd like to, um, get to know her a little bit better and long-distance relationships never work out. So, I've been working on this baby. It's supposed to warp space. In essence, a teleportation machine."

"Cool!" Jinx said appreciatively. "Does it work?"

"That's the problem. I haven't been able to get enough time to actually work on it."

"Well, Raven not here and I am bored stiff, so…"

"Jinx that would be great! Would you really help me?"

Jinx spaced her legs apart, put one hand on her hip and the other in front of her face. In an all-too-melodramatic voice she proclaimed, "In the name of the moon and love, I will help you!"

After her declaration, both Cyborg and Jinx promptly fell on to the floor, rolling with laughter.


	4. Chapter 4

"Shego! Wait up!" Kim called out. They had flown, she still couldn't believe she was flying, for a couple of hours and Shego had then gotten the bright idea to make it a race. The villainess had taken off at a faster pace, giving Kim a taste of her slipstream. Kim had, with out thinking, taken up the chase.

They hadn't had to worry about people seeing them because most of the land that lay between Drakken's main lair and Kim's own home was unpopulated, and anyway, it was well past sunset now.

One of the best parts of this venture, Kim decided, was the view. In the middle of nowhere, and they were in the middle of it, the stars were so bright it looked like they were within arm's reach.

"Shego isn't necessarily a bad part of that view," Kim's mind reminded her as she closed the gap. In the last day Kim's feelings for Shego had gone from disappointment, at the waste of potential, to infatuation, to basically thinking about jumping her every spare second.

"Kimmie, just wondering, but what ARE you going to tell your parents," Shego asked. She could feel Kim's stare on her back, and unlike the normal feelings of being watched, this gaze brought with it waves of desire. This was one of the confusing things that had happened today. The being turned into a lizard with wings and a tail, Shego could take, but seriously! How often do a modern teen hero and a villain, the henchwoman of her archenemies no less, fall in love? Not only that, but they had both readily accepted the fact that they were both of the same sex and that they could conceivably have a future together.

Needless to say, Shego was having a hard time finding the catch in this. There was one, she knew it, she just couldn't find it. If the catch was that she couldn't be human anymore, well screw it. She'd buy that; humanity hadn't done a damn thing for her. Kimmie had done better for herself, but all she did was help people. She was wasting good talents, and not even charging people for them!

If however, the catch came in the form of Kim's parents…Shego really didn't know what she would do then.

The facts were: Shego liked Kim; as far as Shego knew, Kim liked her back. If Kim had to chose between Shego and her parents. That was something she would have to avoid making Kimmie do at all costs.

If anyone had told Shego that Kim choosing her parents over her would crush her heart into tiny pieces, Shego would have made sure no one EVER found the whole of their body, but that didn't make it any less true, now did it?

One wingspan away, Kim was also deep in thought. What WOULD she tell her 'rents?

"Hi mom, dad. I'm in a homosexual relationship with one of my greatest foes and, oh, by the way, I'm not really human anymore. Wanna' see my tail?" Was just a little too in-your-face for a delicate situation like this.

Kim gave a deep shiver as she felt her newfound instincts give their opinion. Simply stated it was, "Shegomate. Kill anyone who stands between her and you."

The best possible outcome Kim could see was Shego behaving herself; Wade finding a cure, and her never having to tell her parents about the wings and tail. The relationship that might evolve from the most former of the tree would be something to deal with when, and if, it came.

That line of thought came to the most obvious question: What would she do if her parents decided not to let Kim see Shego?

The choice took all of one half-second to make: Shego.

Kim's parents had each other, their work, and the twins. She had her friends, school, cheerleading, and Ron. Shego had none of that. She didn't even have Drakken now.

Could she really abandon someone who had nothing else in the world, even if the alternative meant that her parents would likely disown her?

Again, easy question. No.

She needed to talk this over with Shego.

Kim and Shego set down in a field outside of Middleton at Kim's request.

"Shego," Kim started in a serious voice, "I want, I'm _begging_ to have one question answered: How do you _really_ feel about me, and for the love of god, be honest."

Shego took a deep breath; she hadn't expected Kimmie to the quick. Shego needed an answer though. To her immense and everlasting shock she found that the only answer she would ever want to give was already planted deep in her heart. It was the only answer she could give; it would shatter her very soul if anything else came from her mouth.

Kim was at a crossroads, she knew it, and yet, she couldn't choose the path. It was up to what Shego felt now, and what she would say. "Don't lie," Kim prayed silently to whatever deity would listen, "If you lie it will hurt us both, so much."

"I love you," Shego said at last. It was plain and unavoidably blunt and it was not only what Kim wanted to hear, but said in the way Kim wanted it said. Not even the slightest waver of doubt in her voice. Shego was completely and utterly sure of her own feelings, and so was Kim.

"I love you too Shego," Kim said, relishing the way the words felt running over her lips, and the way Shego's face almost glowed. In less time than could be measured, Shego was on Kim with a lip-bruising, earth-shaking kiss. For once, Kim played submissive and gave control to Shego.

Kim's taste was addictive, Shego quickly decided. It was so sweet. Strong, but light at the same time. Partway into the kiss, Shego realized another feature of their new bodies. Their teeth were damn sharp. As the taste of her own blood, mingled with Kim's sent a streak of fire across some unknown pleasure receptor, Shego decided she didn't care.

Kim allowed them at least ten minutes of 'fun' before she looked Shego in the eye.

"My parents are going to worry if I'm any later. They need to get to know you before I tell them about you and me, but if they find out at anytime and don't like it, I want you to go out side and wait five minutes. I'll be out there with a bag of clothes and we'll leave together."

Shego could barely believe what she was hearing. She kissed Kim once before turning to the side a little to pretend more easily, that she wasn't, in fact, crying.

"We need to get going," Kim laid a hand on Shego's shoulder.

Shego, as always had to let her own will be known, even if it was an exercise in futility, "And what, Kimmie, would you do if I just took you right here, right now?"

Kim overlooked how pleasing that sounded and answered, "I would remind you, Shego, that after we get up to my room, I'll let you do anything you want with me; so long as it isn't too loud._ Anything_." Kim's new nose was drowning in the lust and pheromones that Shego was giving off.

Kim could swear that Shego was flying faster than she had been before.

Mrs. Dr. Possible was now slightly worried about her eldest child. Kim had said that it would take several more hours to dispatch the 'baddies' without Ron, but she should have been home by now.

Mr. Dr. Possible had left for work shortly before Raven had arrived, so the surprise he had gotten when he got home was considerable. Raven, after Mrs. Possible insisted, had taken the guest room.

The gothic girl, Mrs. Possible decided, was very nice. From the report she gave on her newly found niece made the girl seem like an angel with a slightly checkered past. Raven wasn't open about her emotions and the monotone that she only abandoned when a strong voice was absolutely necessary made reading between the lines a must.

Through all those things, though, it was easy to see the deep affections that Raven had for Catherine, or Jinx, as she was now called.

The door opened and Mrs. Possible was relieved to hear her daughter's voice announcing that she was home.

The last in a line of surprises that had conspiratorially agreed to attack the Possible household was waiting for the matriarch as she entered the entryway. Not only were Kim's clothes in tatters, she had also brought some of her 'work' home with her, in the form of Shego.

"Kimmie, but isn't she a villain?" Mrs. Possible asked, confused.

"Actually, mom, Shego saved my life this time, and as a result, she kind of needed a place to stay, since I kind of demolished the lair," Kim explained.

"Oh, in that case, sure Kimmie, Shego can stay, but she'll have to sleep in your room or on the couch. We have an unexpected guest here tonight."

"Who?" Kim asked, simultaneously thanking god that there was already a plausible excuse in place for Shego to spend the night in her room.

"Her name is Raven…" Mrs. Possible quickly gave an account of the occurrences that had made up the bulk of the day.

"So we have a cousin that has power over bad luck and is a former criminal?" Kim asked with slight astonishment.

"So why did she come all the way down here instead of 'Jinx?'" Shego asked, speaking for the first time. She too had noticed the incongruity of Raven's uncaring, caring natures.

"Well, Kimmie, I know your father and I haven't talked to you about his much, but Jinx and Raven are in a 'relationship.'" Mrs. Possible said, ghosting over the fact that their new familial acquaintance was gay. "So I'd like you and Shego, and Ron to be supportive of them."  
"Now it makes sense," Shego smirked.

"Pardon me?" Mrs. Possible asked. Shego had obviously gotten something that she missed.

"Why Raven came down here. Jinx is obviously important to her and she wanted to make sure that the only family she had didn't reject her point-blank for her lifestyle choice," Shego explained. Both girls' minds were boggling at the obvious similarities in their situations.

"You're very incite full," Mrs. Possible complemented.

Shego responded by giving Mrs. Possible her least mocking sneer. Some could almost call it a smile. Those people, coincidentally, would never be heard from again after they said that.

"Kimmie, dear, have you grown? You look taller," Kim's mother said as she laid her hand on Kim's head.

Kim shifted nervously, "Well you know mom, us teens, always growing."

Making some quick excuse that she, herself didn't even hear, Kim got Shego and herself into her own room with relative ease.

I've got to remember that I owe Wade one, a big one for this." Kim sighed as she let the holographic image fall. This being one of the few times that she ever did, Kim shut her attic door and flipped a latch to cover it. No interruptions.

"This used to be an attic, so there is still some sound-proofing, but we shouldn't be too loud, if we can help it." Kim said as Shego snuck up behind her.

"OOOOOhhhhh," Kim moaned. Shego had started to run her tongue over the back of Kim's neck. Her mind briefly registered the fact that her wings were able to fold very tightly, enough to allow their body heat to mingle.

"These clothes are trashed, right?" Shego asked, whispering in Kim's ear.

"Yes," Kim hissed as she felt Shego's warm breath on her skin.

Shego immediately found another advantage to their new bodies. A single claw ran the length of Kim's shirt and pants, slicing them to pieces, along with her underwear.

Shego's touch was like fire, even against the new armor-like scales that she somehow knew were as impenetrable as steel.

Their mouths met as Kim ran a digit along, and through Shego's green and black out fit. It was soon in pieces along with Kim's, at their feet.

Kim pushed Shego onto the bed and jumped on top of her. The obsidian body beneath her was enticing and erotic to a point that made her question the rule about noise that she, herself, had put into place.

Shego was having a much harder time controlling herself. Kim wasn't being subtle about what she wanted to do either. The scales on some parts of their bodies might have been tough, but they were also sensitive. For instance, the pubic area that Kim was currently assaulting was eliciting low moans from the villainess.

Rolling over Shego moved herself into the dominant position, whispering in Kim's ear, "Remember your promise Kimmie."

"Find anything yet?" Aqua lad asked from the couch. He was watching Bumblebee and Speedy search the Internet fruitlessly and entertaining himself with the fact that Dream Clown, or D.C., as they had taken to calling her lately, was taking on the twin Spanish speaking superheroes in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

And winning!

It was definitely one of the strangest things Aqua lad had EVER seen, fish man or not. M&M (Mas&Menos) were playing two sets of teamed Ice Climbers. D.C. was playing Link **_AND_** Roy. She had one controller in each hand and was kicking serious ass.

While Roy engaged the Climbers, team in close combat, Link would drop bombs repeatedly, or snipe them with arrows. Roy would take advantage of the opening and action slash them into Link, who would sword spin them back to a sword charging Roy. The result was just too pain full to watch.

"I win again!" D.C. exclaimed as the off-screen flash signaled the death of the ice climbers. D.C. had definitely warmed up to the new group of friends she had, but still made herself scarce when the press showed up.

"Found something!" Speedy proclaimed as he put the view of the M.I.A. book on the large screen. "The Cartography Tome is a compilation of ancient maps; that, we already knew. What we didn't know is that it led to various places that have been counted, by many, as mythical."

"Like where?" Bumblebee asked.

"Take your pick: Atlantis, Avalon, The isle of Dragons, and at least fifteen more places that have been mentioned in lore, including Mt. Olympus and Valhala." Speedy answered.

"So, what does he want with a map to my home town?" Aqua lad growled; this was becoming personal.

"As all good legends go, each place that he listed had an ancient treasure; my guess is that he wants to steel them," D.C. put in.

"El Oro en El Darado," M&M muttered.

"Exactly, El Darado was in the book and a city of gold would be a prime target," Speedy said unhappily.

"So, what do we do now?" Aqua lad asked.

"The book can't be read with out another one: The book of Legends; it contains the points on the globe the various maps can be read at and the books are only good together; they can't be read because the key to the translation for each is in the other."

"So we don't have to worry about anything until X has both books, unless he has both already," Bumblebee reasoned.

"Not to worry about that, the other book is safe and sound in Middleton museum." Speedy assured them.

"Whoa! Middleton?" Bumblebee asked.

"Yeah, why?" Speedy returned.

"Because that's where Kim Possible lives!" Bumblebee said, drawing everyone's attention even more so.

"The Kim Possible?" Aqua lad asked.

"The same one that's defeated more super villains more times than Titan's West." Bumblebee replied.

"We better tell her she might be getting a visit from a professional thief soon," D.C. urged.

"I think we should tell Robin too, he should know about this," Speedy decided.

"Guy's, it's past eleven. I say we go to bed for now. Middleton is five states away; there's no way someone can get that far in less than one night," Dream Clown said, obviously tired from the day's happenings.

"Dream Clown's right, let's hit the sack team." Bumblebee motioned and left, with the other titans, to their rooms.

"WHAT!" Robin yelled at the top of his lungs. The image of Bumblebee on the monitor in front of him cringed.

"You've had contact with _RED X?_" Robin asked as the rest of his team came running; their leader's scream alerting them to something.

"Yeah, and he's headed towards this town called Middleton, we think he's going to steal a book that will lead him to all sort's of lost treasures," Bumblebee explained.

"Middleton! But that's where Raven is!" Robin yelled again.

"Raven? We were going to contact Kim Possible. She lives in that town too and might be able to hold Red X off." Bumblebee replied.

Robin took a few seconds to think this over. It was weird. The fact that Raven had taken time off to go visit Jinx's only family, who coincidentally lived in a town that housed a book containing the secrets to the world's oldest treasures. And that was the target of Red X, who was his creation. It was mind-boggling.

"I'll contact Raven. She can get in touch with Kim Possible, then, together they can protect the book." Robin decided.

"Can't we send them help?" Jinx asked.

"We don't have enough time," Robin said judiciously

"Wait! Jinx and I have been working on a machine that can transport matter instantaneously. It could be ready for a trial run in a few hours if all of us get to work." Cyborg declared.

Robin seized the plan immediately. "Okay everyone, I'll contact Raven. If we can get the device working, we'll go to back her up."

"But what about Slade?" Terra and Beast Boy asked, almost at the same time.

Robin growled. He hated dividing his forces.

"Jinx, if the machine works, you'll go through. You work best with Raven. The rest of us have to stay here for a possible attack by Slade."

Every one nodded. It was the best possible choice, even if they were spread thinly.

"Raven? Raven, are you there?" Robin asked through the communicator. Raven immediately popped the device open to reveal the face of her leader. Whatever had happened in the last little while had not been good, she could see that he had bad news.

"Is Jinx okay?" Raven asked almost immediately.

Robin's face softened at one. "Jinx is fine, in fact she might be coming to see you soon."

Raven gave him a confused look that necessitated an explanation.

"Red X has been spotted in Steal City. He got away with a book from a museum; the Cartography Tome." Raven gasped.

"Now he's after the Book of Legends. But what does this have to do with me?"

"The book is located in Middleton museum."

Raven's eyes narrowed. These were far too many coincidences at one time. There had to be someone behind it, she would make sure to look into this later.

"We want you to contact Kim Possible, if you haven't already and arrange for both of you to help guard the book." Robin finished, "Cyborg's working on a way to get you help; Jinx, but if he's not able to, then you're alone on this one. The rest of us have to stay here to monitor Slade."

"Kim got back from a mission late last night, so I'll talk to her at break fast in a couple of hours," Raven said in her normal monotone.

"Good. Robin, over and out."

Raven returned to her meditation. There were higher powers at work here. Only one of which was her father. Robin had mentioned another prophecy besides her own. That one was millennia old, as far as recorded history could tell, it had never been fulfilled, but if her mother said it then…

The Guardian Prophecy went something along the lines of:

And when the stars themselves are consumed by a greater darkness than has ever been seen before, blood of its blood shall rise against it. With the blood of the darkness shall arise three of the highest powers that govern the world: Chance, Ice, and Fire.

As the darkness comes, lesser forces shall arise and amass to do battle with the hordes of monsters that come from within fear itself. Those are the hunter, the faceless walker of illusions, three who are one with each element: Earth, Water, and Light.

Then shall come three more. They will be of the animals; two great Dragons, one who will be of fire, the other of storm. The last will be of all animals left. If one shall turn to the darkness, then the sleeping one will awake with the arrival of the one who governs over consciousness itself.

Time shall open its gates to the victors, and a greater battle shall be waged.

The thief holds the key.

Kim woke to the annoying beeping of her alarm. Since she was in no mood to stomach it, she brought down one fist onto it and smiled at the satisfying crunch.

It was too early, Kim thought as she snuggled back into the warmth.

The warmth?

Kim tensed and opened one eye. The obsidian body she saw through the crack brought up questions. And then the answers came, all at once.

Kim exhaled and let her muscles relax. The memories from the night before were a considerable comfort to her as she basked in the cool warmth of Shego's body. What didn't make sense, though, was the fact that she had slept with Shego.

She would do it again in a heartbeat, but that still didn't validate the logic of it. They had just become something more than nemeses and they were already in the sack together. Maybe it had something to do with their new bodies.

Kim definitely loved Shego. That was cleat after the night they had had, but how could she fall in love so fast. It went against all logic. One word that came to mind explained it all, though: soul mates.

It was really corny, and Shego would probably laugh at it, but what else could it be?

Kim carefully disentangled herself from Shego and went to her own private bathroom. This was one of her greatest blessings, she thought as she took a quick shower. It had been installed, after endless begging, when the tweebs had knocked a chunk of her room off with a rocket. She got to take showers at any time she wanted, or bathes, and she never had to use the family bathroom before school.

The mirror let her survey herself, checking, in complete, her new body. Now with the remainder of the dried blood from the mission last night off, her scales were a shiny red. Her tail, which made going to the bathroom hard as hell, wagged behind her obediently. Her wings had been especially hard to wash, but by extending them each separately she had been able to coat them with soap.

Now came the hard part; drying off.

Five full minutes later, Kim walked out, almost fully dry, her hair in a towel and another around her body.

Shego was up and looking at Kim's body appraisingly. Kim winked at her and went to get dressed.

Kim soon realized that underwear was a no go. She would have to tear anything to get it on between her wings and tail. She pulled out a pair of old jeans and cut a fair sized whole in the bottom. The shirt was harder, though. She heard water running and knew that Shego had decided to take a shower, which was good, because she could smell the dried blood, smog, and dried cum on both of them a mile away.

Kim eventually found a halter-top that she was able to maneuver around her new appendages. Shoes were out of the question, so Kim just threw the remainder of her ruined clothes from the night before, along with Shego's, into the trash.

Then she pulled out the one thing that she didn't want anyone to know she had kept: The outfit that Drakken had made her wear as his mind slave. It would come in handy now, as Shego didn't have anything else to wear.

The Kimmunicator beeped as Kim laid the clothes on the bed.

"What's the Sitch Wade?" Wade's desk looked unusually cluttered today.

"Hey Kim. I just wanted to call and tell you that I've got the image inducers ready for you and Shego. I also noticed something that you probably needed, look out your window."

She did and saw…Wade-bot. It was the closest Wade ever came to being outside his room. Kim quickly opened the window and let it drop a medium-sized box into Kim's room, then it flew off with its helicopter blades spinning.

Inside the bow were two small bracelets and clothes. Not just any pantsclothes, though. These clothes had holes cut into them that would fit a…tail and wings.

"Wade, you are so beyond awesome," Kim said in awe.

"No big. I just called in a favor that somebody owed you. Now I've got to give you the bad news Kim."

Kim's expression darkened suddenly, "What Wade?"

"You can't be changed back. It's utterly impossible, even for a Possible. The stress would cause the DNA in your cells to fracture and break. You and Shego would turn into piles of goo."

"Any _good_ news then?" Kim asked.

"I've been going over," Wade lifted a stack of papers on to the desk, "the structure of yours and Shego's new bodies. Your bones are three times as dense, but they're hollow, allowing you to fly. Your skin can withstand almost any type of pistol weapon. You can out run a cheetah, bench press and elephant, and arm-wrestle a gorilla.

I don't know how Amy did this, but…damn! I need to do some actual tests to find out your performance, but I know you are way stronger than a human now."

"Thanks for the pick-me-up Wade, but I'm still going to have to live life as a…well, whatever I am!" Kim seethed. "Not to mention Shego. Oh, hell! Wade, what time is it? This is Monday! I have school!"

"Don't worry Kim, it's only seven. You're cool, by the way; where is Shego?"

"She spent the night at my place. We uh…flew back home together."

Wade smirked. "So it's not a total disaster, huh?"

"Okay, but I'd still rather be human. I liked my body!" Kim complained.

"And it's hard as hell to actually take a shower!" Shego chimed in.

"Hey Shego I took the liberty of having some clothes made to fit the uh…new you."

"Because you're bordering on nice nerd-linger, I won't ask how you got my size…or kill you for the answer."

"Thanks," Wade said, realizing it would be better to be grateful than irritated, especially with Shego. "Oh, and Kim all you have to do for the image inducers are to push the buttons on and off. They'll make a human image of you with the clothes you have on currently."

"Thanks Wade," Kim said, turning the Kimmunicator off.

"So Kimmie, what's on your menu for today?" Shego asked as the device went to black.

"School, Shego."

"I don't see why you waste your time there," Shego commented disgustedly.

"I have to have an education, Shego," Kim dismissed.

"You don't have to go to school for an education. Even while I was playing," Shego visibly shuddered, "teen superhero, I learned stuff that_ school_ would never teach anyone."

"I plan on having a normal life after high school, even if I still save the world."

Shego just rolled her eyes. "The nerd said he got me some clothes?"

Kim motioned to the box and let Shego go through them. There were two distinct stacks that were completely different colors. Obviously divided between Kim and Shego.

"I might actually have to thank the nerd-linger," Shego cooed appreciatively. The shirt she currently held was a skimpy piece of green fabric. Shego unabashedly dropped her towel and pulled the shirt and pants on, if you could call them that.

The shirt was a form-fitting piece of fabric that had a loop of cloth that went around the neck and was completely backless; held on by three buckles that wrapped around her lower back beneath her wings. The pants on the other hand, were basically a pair of black leather panties with two sets of straps that ran around Shego's thighs. The loose black leggings of the pants were attached at the back of the thigh by a black leather cord, leaving an open area between them and the other part of the garment about six inches long. Kim had to admit, Shego wore it well.

"Kimmie, time for school!" Kim's mother yelled from the floor below.

"Time for the bracelets," Kim sighed and slid the metal onto her arm.

Shego nonchalantly took the other and slid it on, "I don't see why we have to wear these things."

"If you want to be accepted in society, normal society, then you have to look normal," Kim chided.

"Pretending to be something I'm not is not something I've ever been big on," Shego groused, even as she turned the bracelet on.

Kim looked herself over. She was normal, or at least she looked it. Even her tail wasn't showing.

"Hey Kim! Ron greeted as she stepped out of her house. Felix waved at her. Shego was standing out of sight behind her, insisting on walking with her to the waste of time she commonly called school. This wasn't going to be pleasant.

"Uh Ron, Felix, we're going to have a new, um…friend joining us for today," Kim said uneasily.

"As long as it's not Bonnie I'm okay," Ron said, smiling.

The smile faded from Ron's face as Shego stepped into view. He was behind Felix the moment after that. "KP! Help, Shego in immediate proximaty!"

"Ron, calm down, Shego's not being evil. She's on vacation for the time being," Kim said soothingly. Shego smirked, satisfied and leaned against the house.

"You promise she's not going to try to kill us?" Ron said warily.

"I really don't know about his Kim." Felix chimed in.

Shego rolled her eyes. "I promise I'm not going to do anything evil with out fair warning."

Felix and Ron both eyed her cautiously, but consented to walk to school with Kim and, by association, Shego.

"What's with Shego anyway Kim, and the new look?" Ron asked.

"You miss a lot when you don't go on a mission," Kim hinted.

"Where is Kim?" Raven asked Mr. Dr. Possible.

"You just missed Kimmie Raven, she left for school," the patriarch Possible informed while reading the newspaper.

"I didn't know if you were staying, Raven, but I did draw up some papers for school you and my niece if she comes to visit," Mrs. Dr. Possible informed Raven.

"I've never been to school," Raven admitted. She saw the adults astonished faces and elaborated, "technically, I would be considered an alien, and we didn't have the learning environments you do."

"All you would have to do is take these to the office and they would give you class assignments." Papers were put in Raven's hands as she considered.

"There's a bag of paper and binders by the door. It's old, but it should do for the time you'll be with us."

Raven sighed and went to change. The idiotic shows that Beast Boy watched had at least taught her that her outfit wasn't 'normal.' Ten minutes and a pair of black jeans and a hoodie later, Raven was ready for school. Jinx wasn't due until at least 4, so she had the time to spare.

"Name please," the office worker asked the teen in front of her.

"Raven," she responded neutrally.

"Full?"

"Raven," Raven said, her hood still up. This outfit wasn't as comfortable as her normal one, but it would due. The woman almost argued, but she wasn't paid that much, so she let it go.

"A new student eh?" Mr. Barkin said as he surveyed the youth in front of him, "Name?"

"Raven," Raven said once again. Honestly, couldn't they write her full name on something?

"Last name?" Mr. Barkin asked.

"You wouldn't be able to pronounce it," Raven informed him, but he seemed persistent. "Riisnoraksashakrim."

"Young lady I'll take no more nonsense and lower that hood!" Mr. Barkin barked. Raven looked around the hallway; no one else in sight. Good. She dropped the hood and a sight was revealed that scared Barkin to a decidedly pale skin color.

"Right this way," Barkin said stiffly and led Raven into class once her hood was back down.

"Class I have a new student to introduce, her name is Raven, please work quietly this period," Barkin said quietly and sat down at his desk.

Raven, ignoring the class' stares and sat down in the vacant desk next to Kim Possible, who was obvious because of her red hair. "Raven, as in the same Raven that's staying at my house."

"Yes. Your mom got me in here. I needed to talk with you. My team leader informed me that there's going to be a theft tonight of a very valuable book. The thief has a suit which could out do even him," Raven informed her.

"Your leader?" Kim asked, ignoring how left field this was.

"Robin, the boy wonder."

"Whoa," Kim commented, "That suit must be heavy duty."

"He wants us to work together. I may be getting backup, but Jinx may or may not be coming."

"Jinx, as in my cousin?"

"Yes, I assume your mother told you?"

"Yeah."

"I only have one other question: Do you normally have shady women watching your every move?" Raven discretely pointed to Shego; who was in a tree out side a window, lazily watching Kim. She smirked when Kim made eye contact.

"No, this happens to be a new luxury I'll have to get used to," Kim groused.

"Annoying, but endearing love interest?"

Kim looked alarmed, and Raven instantly knew why, "I won't tell anyone."

"Thanks, my mom told me you and my cousin Jinx have a relationship too. By the way, how did you know?"

"About 'tree girl?' It's in the way that she undresses you with her eyes."

Kim put her head in her hands. "I am now sufficiently mortified and did you do something to Mr. Barkin?"

"He asked me to take off my hood. I guess he didn't like what he saw." Kim wisely left it at that.

Kim's school day was disturbingly quiet for the next several hours, until lunch, then she learned why.

"Kim, major news girlfriend!" Monique cried as they exited the cafeteria. They had decided to eat outside today. It was near enough to the end of school that the weather was nice enough and Shego was outside sitting in a tree, waiting for her.

"Monique, Raven. Raven, Monique," Kim quickly introduced. Ron had his lunch period switched today for a test, so he wouldn't be here with them for the day.

"Oh, hi," Monique said, staring at Raven for a moment while they headed toward the tree that Kim subtly guided them to. "Bonnie has been socially black-listed!"

"Now way? How come?" Kim asked.

"Bonnie, the Bonnie Rackwaller, is gay!" Monique squealed.

The atmosphere around Monique suddenly became icy, after Kim's initial surprise. "Hey, Kim what's up?" Monique asked, weirded-out by the look in Kim's eyes.

"Shego? I know you're up there. I need you to meet a friend."

A shadow dropped from the tree almost instantly. Monique went a little pale at the sight of the villainess.

" 'Nique, I haven't told anyone else, but Shego and I are…well, we're dating."

Monique remembered the comment she had just made and the fact that the person in front of her could easily break her in half. "Please don't hurt me."

"I'm on vacation for now, but if you aren't nice to Kimmie about us, then I could be persuaded to…"

"Shego. Monique is my friend, you won't hurt her, even if she's not okay with our relationship."

"Kim, I'm okay with it, I just didn't know. Oh and your other friend is still glaring at me," Monique squirmed.

"Raven is…involved with another girl too," Kim explained.

"Oh, sorry. Anyway, not to be negative, this is just gossip, but Bonnie's older sisters caught her locking lips with Tara and posted it on the net."

"Is there any chance I can get the address of these sisters?" Raven asked in a tone that conveyed certain death to Bonnie's sisters should her question be answered.

"I'm going to gray early in life between you and Shego," Kim muttered darkly.

"Practice is cancelled today," Kim announced loudly. She saw that everyone was harboring not-so-good thoughts towards two members of their squad. Bonnie and Tara.

She gave them a very pointed look that clearly said, 'stay.'

Tara managed to compel Bonnie not to stomp out of the gym in anger. The only ones who were left in the building were Raven, Shego, Tara, Bonnie, Ron, and Felix. Most of them sat on the bleachers, except for Ron who was standing in his mad dog outfit, with his mask under his arm.

"This isn't really how I wanted to say this to everyone, but…Shego, could you come down here?" Shego made the distance in a jump.

"Bonnie, Tara, I just want to say that…"

"Don't worry Kim, I understand, you want us off the squad. I know with how perfect you are, you probably can't stand to be in the same room with us, most of my 'friends' feel the same way," Bonnie said dismissively.

"Bonnie, that wasn't what I was going to say," Kim growled, not liking that she was being accused of being a bigot.

"Yeah Bon-Bon, we aren't all into the persecution thing," Ron chimed in.

"Ron, this may be a little shocking, but you're my best friend, so you should know that Shego and I are dating," Kim punctuated the sentence with a small kiss on Shego's cheek

Ron smirked? He looked to Felix, "You owe me twenty bro!"

"You were betting on me?" Kim asked in disbelief.

"Not really, I was betting that you and Shego would hook up eventually," Ron clarified.

"Yeah, and there was only another week left. I almost won." Felix lamented.

"I guess that's better than you spazzing out over the fact that I'm bi," Kim conceded.

Tara whispered something in Bonnie's ear and she stepped forward, "Kim, thanks. I need to get over to Tara's house now, we're going to tell her mom before someone else does."

"Good luck," Kim said and watched them go.


	5. Chapter 5

"I still don't see what we're waiting for," Ron admitted.

"My team called, Jinx should be here any moment," Raven said once again. They were standing outside the Possible residence. 'They' consisted of Raven, Shego, Kim, Tim, Jim, Mr. & Mrs. Dr. Possible, Ron, and Felix. Monique had to work overtime at Club Banana.

All of a sudden a large blue whole in the sky opened up and a pink and purple mass fell out of it.

"Jinx?" Raven asked, already by the girl's side.

"Oooooh, I do not recommend that trip to anyone," Jinx said ruefully, she then noticed the surprising number of people around them. "Wow, I didn't know everyone would come to see me fall out of the sky."

Introductions were made quick work of and then Raven pulled the bad luck witch to the side for a moment. "Jinx, did Robin tell you why I originally came out here?"

"He said something about a secret mission, but…"  
"That was a cover story, I really came out here to find those relatives you told me about," Raven confessed.

"You're kidding, right? There's no chance that you could actually do it! There are over a billion people in the world and that's IF they're still alive!" Jinx argued.

"I believe they said something along those lines to Thomas Edison, or any famous person you could probably name," Raven countered. "We will go over HOW I did it later, for now, I'd like you to meet your aunt, uncle, and highly irritating male cousins, as well as a female superhero cousin." Raven said as she pushed Jinx towards the Possible clan.

Jinx looked both surprised and a little like a trapped cat as she extended a hand to the matriarch of the household.

"I'm Jinx," Jinx said, smiling, though her body language was sending out signals that were common to bristling wolves. "I'm your long-lost niece, man this is weird."

Mrs. Dr. Possible ignored the hand and wrapped Jinx in a big hug. Raven smiled as Jinx was caught up between logical thought and the instinct that had served her as a thief. Jinx forced her muscles to relax and take the hug, Raven had to go through the same thing with her.

"So, you're my uncle and cousins, huh?" Jinx asked, looking them over.

"I'm Tim," one of the twins said, "and I'm Jim," the other finished.

"And I'm your Uncle," Mr. Dr. Possible said, "and it won't take a rocket scientist to tell you that this is our little Kimmie cub, your last cousin."

Jinx stared at Kim a moment then took a step back, appraising her. "When I was a villain, they had the heroes and other villains we would meet rated. You had a six," the bad-luck witch commented

"Out of ten?" Kim asked.

"Out of five," Jinx corrected.

"What did I get?" Shego asked off-handedly, if Kimmie was in their databanks, then she must be too. Jinx took one look at the black-haired villainess and paled.

"Shego. Class A threat, never face in combat. Only equal is Kim Possible and Robin, the Boy Wonder," Jinx repeated verbatim from the file they had been forced to memorize.

Shego smiled viciously, the girl knew who to give a compliment.

"Raven and Jinx at the south entrance, all clear." Raven said through the walkie-talkie.

"Kim and Ron here. All clear at the north entrance," Kim returned.

"Felix at observation point, All clear," Felix said as he looked through binoculars at the museum.

"Shego bored as hell, watching a fucking book," Shego replied, bored. She had only agreed to this because Kim said she would 'make it worth her while,' if she did. That meant sex, and Shego liked sex…a lot.

"Sorry cousin, but this is work, not anything personal," Joss Possible said as she looked over the building she had to get inside. HAD TO; was the bottom line. Her employer was clear that the two books would be bought as a set, and only as a set.

A thief, who would believe that a Possible could actually become a thief, she owed it all to her mentor, though. It was her mentor that originally stole the suit; it was her that had found Joss and turned her into Red X. Stealing was something she was surprisingly good at.

The last book had been cake. She had set off the burglar alarm on purpose, just to see what she was up against, but the damn machine had broken down. Dream Clown, she was the one; she had managed to overload the setup. It had been trashed, but she wouldn't have been able to use it again, it took time to set up and her cousin was expecting her.

Slipping on the black mask, Joss took a deep breath; this wouldn't be easy.

Once Felix had done his half-four check-in, sleeping gas formed a mist around him. "One down," Red X whispered.

"Damn!" Jinx cried as two sets of the most basic manacles wrapped around her feet and hands. Whoever was in that outfit knew their stuff, no electronic locks or anything, bad luck wouldn't do shit against these things.

Raven heard the cry and was about to move when two of the famous 'X's' wrapped around her hands, and another around her mouth. 'Not good,' Raven thought, 'if I can't talk or sign, then none of my spell are any use.'

"Three down, three to go," X muttered.

"You'll have to be better than that to get me," Shego laughed as she dodged one 'X' after the other. To Shego, who had grown up dodging various villains' darts, rays, and other miscellaneous projectiles, this was child's play.

"Stealth," Shego muttered. She knew what that suit could do, if it had power. It evidently did. Shego closed her eyes.

'Light footprints, feminine,' Shego thought as she listened for her prey.

Shego blocked a kick to the head, a left to the body, landed on her feet from a throw she had allowed herself to take. 'Good flow,' Shego thought. Not many people had the kind of built-in skill and grace it took to really fight. This was the second person, other than herself; she had seen that could do it.

Kim and Monkey Fist were the other two.

The style she was using was in no way familiar. Shego had a pretty in-depth knowledge of martial arts. Kim knew 16. She, herself, knew 18. Half of those styles were too violent to use on anything other than a life-or-death fight, but this was a new one.

It combined some elements of Ninjutsu with Ahat Mastade. Neither are common, but a combination of the two was unheard of. The ninjutsu relied on hit-and-run-attacks; maybe the tengu style…Ahat Mastade was a more in-your-face-style. It relied on a spiral movement of fighting, using the centrifugal force that created to speed up punches and kicks, parrying blows with open hands, using that force to speed up the centrifuge.

'Two can play at that,' Shego smirked. The moves were easy enough to duplicate, her real strength pushed the art further. Since this was her first fight, Shego decided to take it easy, going at half-strength.

"Round and round we go, where we stop…" Shego taunted.

Joss knew what was happening, but she could handle it. Even if the inertia-dampeners on the suit weren't operating, the current speed was nothing. What did worry her was the fact that every time she landed any kind of punch or kick, it felt like she was hitting a brick wall. She could swear it hurt her more than it did herself.

That meant she had to hit her with something else.

A planned miss of a kick and two blocks from Shego's kicks, those would leave marks, later and Red X was using the floor as projectiles.

When Shego let five baseball sized blocks of hit her with no effect what so ever, Joss decided it was time to get the hell out of here, but not with out the book.

Red X managed to land one last punch, at the cost of a few broken ribs. That proved to be the last punch of the fight. Hidden in her fist was a flash-bomb. There was a blinding pain in her eyes before Shego knew what was up.

"Coming your way, Kimmie," Shego said through the walkie-talkie.

That was the only warning that Kim got before Ron fell down, tied in a red mass, "Oh, come on! I didn't even do anything yet!"

"Sorry," Red X apologized, "but I have a schedule to keep." So said Red X tossed another Red X at Kim. It definitely put a damper on X's plan when Kim not only caught the ball before it exploded to net her, but crushed it in one hand.

"No shortcuts. To get through you have to go through me." Kim said threateningly. A short, but fierce fight ensued, ending with Kim pinning X to the ground, sending pain coursing through the unknown figure by means of putting pressure on her broken ribs.

"Let me go!" X ordered.

"No way," Kim said and reached for the mask. It came off with a single tug from a powerful claw.

"Joss?" Kim whispered in a voice that combined elements of surprise, shock, anger, and…pride.

"You want an explanation? Let me go, I'll be at your house in a day or so!" Joss whispered back, urgently. Kim heard someone coming. She couldn't believe she was doing this, "Shoot me with one of those things," she ordered and let her cousin up.

In a moment she was tied on the ground, not feeling too proud of herself.

"So, Kimmie, she got by you too. I think I like you like this," Shego commented on the position Kim was currently in.

"Shego, spare me and untie me, for that matter," Kim said brusquely.

"Don't forget the sidekick," Ron called pleadingly.

"I gotcha'," Rufus squeaked. The mole rat had been biting through the polymer that held his owner in place.

"Way to go Rufus!" Ron called and freely moved his arms and legs, even as Shego cut Kim out.

"Out with it!" Shego ordered as she slowly massaged certain areas of Kim's anatomy.

"Shego! That's not fair, please!" Kim shuddered as Shego blew softly on her center. "All right! I'll tell, just please, Shego, please!"

Shego took pity on Kim and brought her agony to a quick end.

"Damn you," Kim panted. "You remember that time you and Drakken tried to turn all my dad's friends into idiots at the Crooked D?"

Shego grunted in ascension.

"My cousin Joss was, at the time, trying to be me. I pulled the mask off X at the museum. It was Joss," Kim confessed.

"That girl certainly gets around," Shego muttered, "Feel better now?"

"Surprisingly, I do," Kim said and snuggled into Shego's warmth.

"So, Auntie P, what's up?" Jinx asked as she walked in the room. Raven was bummed about the Red X thing and her aunt had asked to talk to her.

"Hi Jinx," Mrs. Possible greeted. "I wanted to talk to you about Raven."

"Straight to the chase, huh? If you're going to ask me to stop seeing her, then you can stop right now, I love her." Jinx said in a tone that conveyed no room for argument.

Mrs. Possible smiled. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about how long you are going to stay with us, but if you want to, let's talk about Raven." Jinx moved to object, but the matriarch of the household silenced her with a finger.

"Your uncle and I want to know if you've thought about marriage?"

Jinx's eyes widened, "Raven…Raven and I, we haven't exactly talked about anything like that yet, and we're both only 17."

"You may want to bring it up with Raven casually. She made you look like an angel when I asked her to tell me about you. She loves you, a lot. Anyway, I just wanted to know how long you planned on staying here. Raven is welcome as well."

"I'll have to talk this over with her." Jinx said and walked out of the room.

"We lost him," Raven reported.

"Damn," Robin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You can make a full report later, Raven. It's late, you and Jinx can have a week off, unless there's an emergency. You can stay at the Possible house, try to turn up anything on X if you can, but officially this is time off."

"What about Slade?"

"We'll take care of him, he's been quiet, though. Listen Raven; he wants you. So you need to be M.I.A. for a little while."

"Okay Robin, you win," Raven sighed as well and closed her com. off.

"Was that Robin?" Jinx asked as she opened the door.

"We have a week off. We need to relax, and lay low, get off Trigon's and Slade's radar."

"Good, I missed you." Jinx whispered as she kissed Raven.

"I missed you too," Raven sighed. Jinx tasted sweet, and she wanted more. A twitch of her fingers and the door was locked. Five seconds later they were both stripped of clothing, together on the bed.

"Raven," Jinx moaned quietly as Raven sucked on her left breast, leaving shallow bite marks. It felt good to have someone scratch the itch that had been building up the last few days. She stiffened as two thin digits ran along her nether lips; then moaned into Raven's mouth loudly as they entered her.

Beast Boy turned to Terra, then to where the others were supposed to be, only they weren't there.

"Where'd everybody go?" He asked, clueless.

"Star and Robin went off to screw," she said off-handedly.

"Oh yeah, what about Cy?"

"Talk to Bumblebee," Terra supplied then cuddled up to Best Boy. The controller in his hands suddenly dropped.

"Beast Boy, can we fuck?" Terra asked him, running a hand across his stomach. BB felt his cock twitch. They had been dating ever since Terra…got back, they hadn't actually talked about sex, but never look a gift horse in the mouth, right?

"Terra?" BB asked as he turned the T.V. off.

"Yes?" Terra asked.

"Let's take the couch." BB said definitively.

Terra would have said something, but decided that actions speak louder than words. She full on kissed the green imp, hard.

"You should know, Beast Boy, that I like some strange stuff," Terra warned.

"Like what?" Beast Boy was curious, he was on the internet a lot, and had heard of some weird fetishes.

"Lets just say that what turns me on is when a guy is more of a horse, than hung like one," Terra confessed blushingly.

"Bestiality?" The green man asked weirdly. "That's cool, what animals do you like?"

"Horses, dogs, cats, and…" Terra said something so softly BB couldn't hear it; she was obviously embarrassed.

"Terra, I can do any animal you want, but you have to say it," BB said cheerfully while they divested themselves of garments.

"Octopus," Terra said quietly.

Beast Boy smiled.

"Mom, Dad, tweebs, I need to tell you something, but I'm not sure how you'll react." Kim began her nervous speech easily enough.

"Honey, you know you can tell us anything," Mr. Possible reassured his daughter.

"Your father's right Kimmie, just spit it out," Mrs. Possible coaxed.

"Shego and I are dating," Kim said in a rush, and waited for her parents reaction.

To her surprise, Mr. Possible handed his wife a twenty. "Thank you for telling us so soon Kim. I knew I could trust you," The eldest female Possible smiled. It took a moment for what had just happened to register.

"Does **_everyone_** have to bet on my sex life?" She asked tiredly. Shego appeared to find this all very funny.

"Actually," Tim said hesitantly. "We had a pool on the internet," Jim added. "And we just scored five hundred bucks! Hoosha!" Tim finished. Kim gave them a withering stare.

"Okay, well there goes half the surprise…" Kim said, trailing off.

"Did you have something else to tell us Kim?" Mr. Possible asked.

"I didn't know that you had something else you were hiding from your best friends," Ron pouted. Rufus chattered in agreement.

"Mom, Dad, do you remember the story I told you about the time I was turned into a monkey? And the time Ron got mutated into a beaver?" Kim asked warily.

The Drs. exchanged looks. "Yes," the female head of the family answered warily.

"Then this shouldn't be too much different, just know that Wade is working on a cure," Kim said and turned off the image inducer.

Her mom and dad remained pretty cool for two parents who just saw their daughter transform into a giant lizard looking thing. They only screamed a little. The tweebs loved their sister's new look and continually bombarded her with questions about testing.

Ron had taken it the best of all, at least until he tried to get up, then he fell flat on his face in a dead faint.

"Kim, your genetic structure is amazing," Mrs. Possible said, looking at a little of her daughter's blood through a microscope.

"Mom, Wade already told me some of the stuff I should be able to do, it's no big," Kim said dismissively.

"Yes it is Kim; let me feel your arm," Mrs. Possible ordered. Kim obediently extended her arm, both of them turned to hear Shego growl rather threateningly.

"Shego, it's my mom. She's not going to jump me," Kim said exasperatedly. Then to her mom, "Shego and I have some new…instincts to deal with. Ron hugging me made her see red, I think she almost sunk a few claws into his neck, but she'll behave."

Mrs. Possible warily touched her daughter's arm again, paying close attention to Shego's reaction. Shego's attention was completely focused on her hand, and from the looks of it, she was grinding her teeth. 'Why would she…Oh!"

It was obvious when she thought about it. Shego considered Kim her mate; at least her more instinctual side did.

Mrs. Possible trusted in Shego's ability to control herself and turned back to her daughter. The muscle underneath the scale-like skin was hard as steel. She let go and almost FELT Shego relax.

"Kim, I want you to come to the hospital, you can use that bracelet so no one will get scared, but I want to do some tests on you and Shego. Shego, that means you can stay by Kim's side all you want, but don't hurt anyone." Kim's mother advised.

"You did well Joss, considering your opposition," a hard, but female voice said as the owner of the voice looked Joss over. Joss was clad in some decidedly revealing clothing, but didn't seem uncomfortable.

Joss gave out a whimper as the woman touched a few decidedly broken ribs.

"Drink this," she said and handed Joss a glass of something. Joss unhesitatingly drank it. It was bitter and made her gag, but she got it all down.

"I'm going to have to explain myself to my cousin," Joss said.

"Just make sure that no one guesses who I am," she said as she stepped into the light.

"Yes master…Blackfire," Joss said obediently.

Kim was bored. She had let doctors poke and prod at her for half an hour. School had been for the most part boring. For the most…

Jinx had come with them today. Everything had gone perfectly fine until the witch had gotten bored. When Jinx got bored, Raven later explained, she tended to make things more exciting.

The lights had been first. A twitch of her eyes and all the bulbs in a hallway had exploded. Then the toilets. Evil things that they are, they didn't deserve what Jinx did to them. The school had been declared unfit for student habitation, pending an investigation that would be headed by everything from a paranormal investigator to a priest.

Back to the tests, though.

X-rays, cat scans, almost anything else that the doctors could think of.

"Kim, I want you to take a deep breath," one man requested. Kim did so. "Now swallow it." Again, Kim forced the air down. A sudden hot-spot in her chest forced her mouth open and a burst of flame shot out.

Kim's eyes opened wide. So did Shego's. The doctor smiled. "Your chest has a cavity below the lungs, or where the lungs should be, that ignites a natural form of sulfur, expelling, when air is taken into the cavity, a flame."

"What do you mean where the lungs are supposed to be?" Shego asked.

Mrs. Possible coughed, indicating she would answer the question. "Here are your X-rays," she put up the see-through plastic on light-screens. "Yours and Shego's lungs are, for lack of a better word, missing. We had to get creative in finding the way you are both alive."

She took a deep breath, "Your bones are hollow, Wade told you that. What he didn't know was that inside your bones, especially your arms and legs, are not only pockets of air, but inter-connecting tubes of air that replenish themselves from periodically opening and closing tubes from your trachea and wings. This means that when you stretch your muscles in everyday activities your breathing."

Mrs. Possible waited to let this sink in.

"Next we have the chest cavity, which is occupied by two hearts, each having five lobes and beating at twice the normal speed of a human one. The sulfur cavity is underneath these, at least in Kim's case."

"In my case?" Shego asked.

"Do you know how the nervous system works, Shego?" Kim's mom asked.

"Something like electrical impulses that travel along nerves to the brain, where they are interpreted and responded to?" Shego guessed, not really caring, just wanting an answer to her question.

"Good. Your nervous system is different. The charge that travels along the nerves in created by the diffusion of sodium and chloride across a cell's membrane. Your body needs twice as much NaCl, or salt, to use in this way because the electrical charge needs to go to your brain and your chest cavity. Inside your chest is a ball of dense dead cells, infused with a staggering amount of lead."

"So I have a ball of lead in my chest?" Shego sounded unbelieving.

"Yes and your trachea is coated with the same biological material that makes up nerves, they can detach from and reattach to nerves that attached to that ball. Since nerves only allow electrical impulses to travel one way…" Mrs. Possible let the sentence go.

"What does all that mean?" Shego asked, irritated. She flexed her claws and her tail twitched unceasingly.

"Take a deep breath Shego, swallow, and then just let it out," Mrs. Possible said coaxingly.

Shego did as requested. A charge suddenly built up and she opened her mouth on reflex. A real bolt of lightning shot out of her mouth. Once she was sure of what happened, she closed her mouth tightly.

"That's what 'all of that' means," Mrs. Possible finished

"I really like my new family," Jinx said as she cuddled up to Raven. They were looking at a nice sunset from Middleton park.

"I'm glad," Raven smiled.

"And I have you to thank for it. My angelic demon," Jinx whispered.

"That would make you a demonic angel?" Raven queried.

"I'm anything you want me to be," Jinx answered.

"You're worried about something, aren't you?" Raven asked. If you knew how to read someone, the lack of energy was an obvious red light.

"This can't last Raven. I know it can't. We each have the same demon to face," Jinx said, staying at whisper level.

Raven wrapped her arms around the young girl tightly.

"That doesn't change the fact that I want it to. Does that make me selfish? If I want to be able to tell the world, 'I'm busy, get someone else to save you?'"

"No. It makes you normal. No matter how many superpowers you have, there are certain things that you'll never lose."

"I want to be stronger Raven. If we have to fight, I'm no good. I want to be able to protect you," Jinx confessed.

"You already can Jinx. Remember how you hit Slade? What did you want to do at the time?"

"That's easy; I wanted to protect you and hurt the bastard."

"Have you ever hit someone that hard?"

"No."

"How much of it would you say, then, was…luck? Good luck?"

A light sparked behind Jinx's eyes. She kissed Raven softly.

"I love you." Jinx said and let herself fall into Raven, loosing herself.

"I love you too, Angel," Raven said as she hugged the girl to her.

"Slade!" Robin yelled, staff at the ready. It had been days since they had lost Red X's trail, but Slade's had just gotten red hot.

Titans West, minus Raven and Jinx assembled in seconds. Starfire had already been in the room, BB and Terra's clothes looked slightly ruffled, and Cyborg was last, having taken a moment to top off his power cells.

"Titans; Slade has been spotted near the prison, the city is on high alert, ready to evacuate by subway and boat at a moment's notice. If Slade let's any prisoners loose, it could be a catastrophe! I hate to say it, but Slade's capture is secondary, if anyone escapes it is our first priority to put them back in their cells. Titan's GO!"

"Robin, why are there no 'bad guys' escaping?" Starfire asked, looking at the enormous hole in the prison wall. Cyborg's scanners held that no heat sources had exited the structure, but that there had been plumes of fire spaced around the prison.

"I don't know Star," Robin admitted it and hated himself for it. The titans crept quietly into the structure, Robin eluding an icy aura as he awoke his powers.

Nothing was sometimes the most unnerving thing to find, as was the case here. No guards, no prisoners. Absolute silence.

A scream rang out in the tall-ceilinged hall of cells upon cells.

The teens took off in a swift, but silent run to the source.

What they found at the end of their path was the prison quart-yard, and a scene that would haunt their dreams for the rest of their lives.

Body upon body stacked high and another pile, much smaller, but all the more vomit-inducing.

Human hearts. Piled on a giant symbol of Scath, of Trigon.

"How nice to see you again Robin, although I wish Raven was here to see this," Slade said, looking appraisingly at his handiwork.

Robin was completely speechless. Slade had gone beyond even what he had thought possible. With out any bravado, Robin shot a bolt of ice at the masked man. Slade wordlessly melted the bolt before it reached him.

"Come now Robin, don't you want to hear my plan?" Slade asked.

"No," Robin seethed.

"Then I guess we cut to the chase…" Slade said and shot flame into the pile of hearts.

The symbol beneath them glowed bright, and the pile formed into a demon.

It had the mark of Scath on its forehead, with massive limbs of a grayish color. It looked a little like a golem, with four gleaming red eyes.

"I think I'll watch." Slade said as the monster took a few slow steps forward.

The onslaught that the Teen Titans went on could be called a small-scale war. The demon was up against the very incarnation as it was pummeled by ice, earth, sound, light, and assaulted by a number of animals only describable as uncountable.

It didn't help.

The rock and ice bounced off it harmlessly, the light had a similar effect. Every bite and slash was deflected. Finally even sound couldn't stop it.

"Come now Robin. I would have thought you would be smarter than that. Exploit weaknesses." Slade taunted.

'It's invulnerable!' Robin's mind screamed at him. Then he blinked. The thing itself might be invulnerable, but not the pieces. Did that mean…

Oh, God.

He felt sick to his stomach. The pile of corpses; he had looked at them…and they had looked back. Not with eyes accosted by death, but by an inescapable horror of a half-life. Pain, torment, it was all there.

Robin knew what he had to do. Take aim…fire, fire now, before you realize what you're doing. Two loud screams tore through the air as Robin froze the pile of the living dead. One was his…a scream from a heart-wrenching pain of realization.

The second was a scream of physical pain.

It was Cyborg's.

"And so you're a thief now?" Kim asked her cousin.

"Yep, and my master says I'm pretty good at it," Joss, or Red X, Kin wasn't really sure right now, said.

"Damn right you're good," Shego smirked. "I was a little faster at your age, but you got skills kid."

"Shego, don't encourage her!" Kim groaned.

"Kim, I like being a thief, I only steal what's not needed. Nothing that would hurt anybody."

"Joss, just be careful," Kim sighed. Her lover was her arch-enemies former sidekick. One of her cousins was a thief in training. The other was a former villain, now a reformed superhero. She was a teen hero, daughter of a rocket scientist and a brain surgeon, Oh and currently a fire-breathing lizard woman. When was normality going to pay her life a visit?

"Kim, I would like to know one thing. How the hell did you and Shego get so strong? I couldn't even touch you!"

"That's a secret," Kim said while rubbing her forehead. This was giving her a headache, "So, what does your master want with those books, anyway?"

"Kim, you know I can't tell you that."

"Just promise me it won't hurt anyone that shouldn't be hurt?" Kim pleaded.

"I promise," Joss said unwaveringly.

"What!" Raven practically yelled into the communicator. Several miscellaneous objects in the room shattered. Raven briefly noted the rarity of the occurrence now a days.

"Raven. Friend Cyborg was gravely injured in combat with a demon summoned by Slade," Starfire explained through tears.

"He's not in immediate danger right now, but he's declining. It doesn't look good if we can't find someone to repair him," Robin clarified.

"Then find someone!" Jinx yelled from beside Raven.

"We can't. Cyborg is the only one who can repair himself, besides Gizmo, and he got himself arrested in Russia." Robin said.

"Damn! It'll take weeks to get him out of that hell hole of a justice system!" Jinx cried.

"Raven! What's wrong?" Kim asked, she and Shego having heard the commotion and barged in. A six-second version of the story sufficed.

Kim popped the Kimmunicator open. "Wade. I need to know if you can understand some blueprints?"

"Send 'em my way and I'll see what I can do," Wade responded.

A quick email and Wade had the blueprints for Cyborg's systems.

"Kim, look, I may be a genius, but his is years beyond everything I know about. The guy who did this job must be a borderline nutcase." Wade apologized.

"It's cool Wade. I just thought maybe…" Wade shrugged apologetically and the screen went to a shot of the prints. Kim sighed; maybe she couldn't do anything.

"Hey Kim?" Jim asked from the doorway. "Mom wanted to us to make sure everything was alright, she heard a 'ruckus.'"

"It's fine tweebs," Kim said half-heartedly. Making a waving motion with the Kimmunicator.

"Wow! Is that c Sonic cannon mounted from a ten-thousand cell?" Jim asked. He and Tim were on the Kimmunicator screen like flies on a…well, you get the point.

"Definitely and the parts are modular!" Tim cried.

"And the design on the left cerebral hemisphere. These are cool, but there's a loss of power between the microtech bots and the repair mechanisms."

"They could have done more with the biological components. It would take a lot of will power to really bring out the full potential, even then it would get fragged after one time!"

"Serious need of an upgrade, dude," Tim agreed with finality

That was about how long it took for everyone to get knocked out of their individual stupors.

"Tweebs! You can understand this?" Kim asked in disbelief, holding up the screen.

"For sure this is cake, but there are some design flaws," Jim dismissed.

"How the HELL!" Raven asked herself quietly.

"Can your brothers come to Titan's tower with us?" Jinx asked.

"Tweebs, there's a guy who's like this. He's in trouble, could you rebuild him?" Kim asked.

"Hika-bika-boo?" Jim asked.

"Hoosha," Tim shrugged.

"Sure, but if we help, can we keep a copy of the prints?" Jim asked, pointing to the screen.

Raven nodded.

"Ready to go tweebs?" Kim asked. She and Shego, along with the titans at the Possible house were in a ring Raven had painted on the floor.

"We got our tools!" Jim yelled and jumped into the circle with his brother.

"Be back soon kids!" Mr. Possible said.

"Have a good time boys and girls!" Mrs. Possible chimed in.

Kim would have called Ron, but there wasn't any time to do so.

"Next time we teleport to two miles _above _our target, I'd like to be warned," Shego complained, carrying Tim and flying slowly down to the 'T' below them.

"Shego, a little surprise won't hurt if you can fly." Kim chastised, holding Jim.

"Jinx, when did your cousin and Shego grow wings?" Raven asked as she landed down on the roof, Jinx in her arms.

Jinx shrugged.

"Why did we miss?" Kim asked.

"A two mile miss over a teleportation of half the country is actually very good; if it had been anyone else, you might be in space or a layer of bedrock," Raven said defensively as the group of six ran to the elevator.

"Robin!" Jinx called as they entered the main room.

Robin was sitting, head in his hands, on the couch, with Starfire's arms wrapped around him like a life line.

"What happened?" Raven asked. The link that she and Robin had forged when she had to enter his mind was dark. Pushing her way slightly into the link she felt herself go cold. There was so much sorrow and darkness. He was in shock. Something big had happened.

"Robin will not speak of it, he will hardly speak at all. Something is wrong with him," Starfire explained with helplessness.

"Jim, Tim; Jinx will show you where Beast Boy and Terra are. There will be enough parts to repair Cyborg there, I need to stay here." Raven said decisively.

Jinx took her cousins hands and led them to the training room. Terra and Beast Boy were there, watching the beeping monitor that showed Cyborg's heart beat. Kim and Shego hung back uselessly.

"Beast Boy, Terra. Long story short, these are my super-genius cousins, they're going to fix Cyborg," Jinx said as she pointed to Jim and Tim.

Beast Boy looked the two pre-teens over, "But they're just kids!"

"Look, if you can recalibrate a sonic cannon's frequency and reinstate order to a damaged body…" Jim started. "…That runs on a super-high-voltage power cell without blowing yourself…" Tim continued. "…Or the patient up. Then be our guest." Jim finished.

Steam started spouting from Beast Boy's ears. His brain had overloaded itself trying to understand what the kids were saying.

Tim and Jim took that as a go-ahead. "Kim, Shego, could you hand us the parts we need as we need them?"

"Sure," Kim replied quickly, to stop Shego from making a snarky remark. She settled for glaring at Kim.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zynthos," Raven chanted. The candles around her flared a her mind took flight into Robin's form.

"Robin!" Raven called out. His mind was a barren wasteland, a fog flowing over the darkened landscape.

"Raven?" a whispered voice responded.

Raven moved quickly in the direction of the voice, she had to reach him fast.

"Oh God," Raven breathed when she saw him. His entire form, up to his neck was encased in slowly advancing ice.

"Raven?" He said again. "I killed them. I killed them all. I had to."

Raven levitated herself to eye level with the boy wonder and touched his forehead. A flood of images ran through her mind. They were disjointed, but she was able to decipher the basic message. Robin had killed probably three hundred guards and prisoners. Now his psyche was crumbling under the pressure of that fact.

"You want to forget, don't you?" Raven asked.

He nodded.

"I'm sorry Robin, but you can't. There will always be blood on your hands now, but there are people who need you. You can't just fall back into yourself."

Tears were streaming down his face. Raven realized who she was looking at in that moment. This wasn't their fearless leader, Robin. This was Dick Greyson, a boy, an orphan; the side that Robin never showed anyone.

"You've killed to, haven't you Raven?"

The question wasn't unexpected. Raven did her best to hold back the flow of memories from her childhood. "Yes. I have."

"Does it get easier?"

"If it did you would have to worry. Robin, you care about people. That is one of the things that Slade never saw when he said you two were similar. You had to, **_had to_**, take life. I know my fathers servant demons, you saved your friends' lives today. This is how life works Robin. Innocence to wisdom; inexperience to experience. Never the other way around."

"It still hurts." There was so much pain in his voice. It reminded her of how she had acted, when, in a blind rage, she had killed priests on Azarath who had been trying to help her.

"I know, and it always will. Friends help, though, and Starfire. Though I think she counts a little more than a friend."

Robin smiled a little and the ice began to melt.

"I'm going to put you to sleep, you're tired. When you wake up, everything will be all right." Raven said in a voice that made Robin's eyelids droop and close.

She sighed and opened her real-world eyes. The real Robin was in Starfire's arm, sleeping quietly. "Watch over him, Star," Raven suggested quietly.

Five hours and a few hundred replacement parts later, Jim and Tim fired up the circuit core. This was one of their additions to Cyborg. It was a nano-machine production and destruction plant position in his chest cavity.

They had also done away with the traditional power core, in favor of a new cold fusion reactor that would serve as a self-perpetuating power supply. If they were right, it wouldn't need replenishing for eighty years and produce twice as much power as the old power cell.

The nano-machine production plant started to hum. The circuits around it started to glow. The tiny robots were repairing and rerouting any damaged parts to a new diagram that Jim and Tim had created from Cyborg's original blue-prints.

Cyborg's red eye started to glow and his human one slowly opened.

"What happened," he asked groggily.

The two twins 'high-fived' each other. "Hika-bika-boo!" Jim cried. "Hoosha!" Tim returned.

"Um, do you two speak English?" Cyborg asked. The twins were the only ones in the room currently. BB and Terra were sleeping. Star and Robin had taken to one of their bedrooms to rest. Raven and Jinx were giving Kim and Shego a tour of the tower, as they needed a break from being assistants.

"Of course we do!" Jim exclaimed.

"We're the ones who fixed you…You were totally thrashed."

"You fixed me?"

"Yeah…and we made some improvements."

"Who are you two, anyway?" Cyborg was getting dizzy looking back and forth between the two twins.

"I'm Jim…and I'm Tim…we're Jinx's cousins."

Cyborg looked them over carefully. They didn't look anything like Jinx, except in the eyes. They had that look. The one that made people who knew what it meant want to run and hide. Cyborg looked himself over then. There were obvious new parts, the chest being the most obvious. It looked to be made of some kind of really weird metal.

"That's out invention." One of the twins supplied, noticing where he was looking.

"Yeah. We like to call in I.M.P. shield, or impossibility shield for long."

"It's the hardest steel known to man."

"Lets start at the beginning you two, now what exactly did you replace?"

The twins started to explain. They pulled out a diagram to explain what they had had to do. Cyborg followed everything, even the design that they had used for the fusion reactor. They had just finished when BB and Terra walked in.

"Cy! Dude! You're okay!" BB yelled as he and Terra inspected their friend.

The group of four made up by Shego, Kim, Raven, and Jinx then entered.

"Jinx, your cousins are awesome!" Cy exclaimed upon seeing them.

Quick introductions were made, none of the group had really been properly introduced to Kim, Shego, or Tim and Jim as Jinx's family.

"Cyborg really seems to like Tim and Jim," Kim commented from her position next to Shego on the couch. Shego had been resolutely refusing to let Kim out of her sight, or arms reach for that matter, in a place she didn't perceive as safe.

"It's not often that he actually meets someone who can understand what makes him tick, much less repair it." Raven said, watching Cy and the twins play on the game station. "What was with the wings, by the way?"

"Oh, that." Kim said. She had subtly sidestepped that topic a few times during their tout.

"Kimmie, just show them. They deal with stuff like this all the time from what I've seen," Shego said blandly. Kim turned a knob on the bracelet. Shego did likewise and their former selves flickered out.

Raven barely blinked.

"No screams?" Kim asked.

"Like Shego said, we deal with this kind of stuff all the time. One time we were imprisoned as animals inside an insane magician's magic hat."

Kim blinked.

Jinx had taken a moment to look through some of her old things for her old training tools. She found them buried in one of her old bags.

It was a small chest. Inside was a deck of playing cards and six dice.

The dice were solid ivory with gold trim around the edges and diamonds implanted for the black dots. The cards were actually thin sheets of metal fibers with intricate pictures on each back and front. These were so infused with bad luck that no matter how lucky you were, you couldn't win any game with them.

Jinx took the dice and rolled them. All six landed on ones. The same result a second time. The odds of that happening were one to multiple thousands.

The deck was taken out and shuffled, thoroughly.

The first four cards she drew were the two's from each suit.

If she could get these to operate under good luck then she could master it.

"Ron Stoppable?" Joss asked at the home of the semi-famous sidekick.

"Joss," Ron asked weirdly.

"Ron, I don't really have time to explain, but you need to come with me."

"Uh, okay. I guess." Ron followed Joss out side and to a decidedly large car. There was a woman behind the steering wheel, she had black hair and orange skin. She was wearing a pair of sunglasses and an overcoat.

"What's going on?" Ron asked.

"My name is Blackfire. Joss is currently my student, albeit she gets paid, but she's still my student. We need you to help us save the world. And if you're wondering about the skin, I'm an alien from a planer called Tamaran."

"But Kim…" Ron objected.

"Not Kim, she's busy with other work," Blackfire supplied.

"Where to then?" Ron asked submissively.

"China. We need to go to the Chinq prison of Lost Souls." Black fire said and began to drive.

"Why can't save-the-world-places have a nice name?" Ron asked god as Rufus chattered uneasily on his shoulder.

"I take it that the beeping means that something bad is happening?" Shego asked.

'The beeping,' as Shego put it was the Titans' alarm system, meaning that someone was making trouble.

"A giant snake is terrorizing downtown," Raven said, slightly irked.

"Isn't most of your team, including your leader a little stressed from the last battle?" Kim asked.

Raven nodded in response.

"Then Shego and I will take it," Kim said, resolved to help out.

"We will?" Shego asked, not following the train of thought.

"Shego, I haven't had a good dose of adrenaline in days, I am bored and in withdrawal. That means you'll sleep alone tonight if I don't get my fix. Besides, you'll get a good fight…" Kim taunted.

Shego mulled it over for a minute. "You can convince me to do anything, you know?" Kim gave Shego a peck on the cheek and started to leave.

"Jinx could convince me to have sex on a parade float if she wanted to," Raven said sympathetically.

"You better make sure she never hears that you said that," Shego smirked and Raven skin paled a few shades.

"For a giant snake it sure takes a beating," Kim commented as she tossed a car at the snake.

"Tell me about it. I don't know why you wanted to do this Kimmie," Shego said a she grabbed the thing by the body and tossed it to Kim. "Our fights were always so much more invigorating!"

"Shego, just because we're lovers, doesn't mean we can't have a spar now and then," Kim stated as she landed a knockout punch on the beast.

"You mean other than when we're in the bedroom?" Shego asked, smirking.

"Funny Shego, very funny," Kim replied.

"How about we leave this," Shego gestured to the beast, "For the police, turn the inducers off and see what these new bodies of ours can really do?"

There was something in that voice that implied both pain and pleasure.

"Man, now this is a show!" Cy exclaimed. He, Beast Boy, Terra, Jinx, Raven, Jim and Tim, Robin, and Starfire were watching the greatest fight that any of them had seen in a long time.

Shego and Kim were going at it. Not in the sexual sense, but what they were doing was near it.

Shego flipped over Kim and her legs were taken out from under her by Kim's tail. Shego, in turn flipped to her hands and her taloned feet grabbed Kim's shoulders, giving her a throw into the air.

Kim's wings flew open for a moment and then closed, giving her the proper propulsion to control her flight. She landed on all fours, giving Shego a feral growl and a sharp-toothed grin.

A flurry of punches and blocks followed. Robin, Jinx, Raven, and Cy were the only ones to actually follow it. Raven sighed, "Do we really have nothing better to do than this?"

"We do," Jinx said slyly, "but I don't think you want to do any of that in front of your friends."

"Hey, speaking of things that you wouldn't want to do in front of your friends, where's Beast Boy?" Cyborg asked.

"Speaking of friend Beast Boy, where is friend Terra?" Star asked from her position on Robin's lap.

"Are those questions really ones we want answered?" Robin asked. Everyone else then realized exactly who they were talking about and decided not to further the subject. The fact that some of them thought that they heard a feminine cry just reinforce that fact.

"So…let me get this straight: you want me to follow you into an ancient Chinese prison that probably houses some of the most tormented ghosts in the world to get a warrior to save the world from…?" Ron asked.

"The rebirth of the demon world. Your friend Kim is aiding the titans in dealing with Trigon, but our world evidently loves to attract disaster Joss informed him.

Ron rubbed his head, this was making it hurt. "So why me?"

"Legend has it that only one with a mastery of Tai Shing Peq Wa is able successfully navigate the prison," Blackfire explained.

"Uh-oh," Rufus squeaked. "Monkeys!"

"Can we pick up a friend in Japan? She could help," Ron asked as the treo stopped next to something that looked like a space ship or a really advanced airplane.

"If you can do it fast," Blackfire said, pushing a button on a remote. The bottom of the ship fell away into a ramp to allow them access.


	6. Chapter 6

"Why are we always out of the loop?" Bumblebee asked Cyborg over the screen.

"It's not my fault that all the big villains love to make trouble over here," Cyborg defended himself. He had been charged with making the call to Titan's east because Robin had already gone to bed…with Starfire. He didn't really blame them, it had been a long, long day.

"I think we need to have a meeting. A full titan's meeting, something big is going down and you guys might need our help," Bumblebee said sternly.

Cyborg sighed, "That is a good idea. I don't like how things are going now-a-days, and I have this feeling that they're going to get worse soon."

"We'll be there in two days. You need to meet Dream Clown anyway," Bumblebee decided.

"You said that she was scary when she got mad? Just how scary are we talking?" Cyborg asked, recalling what Bumblebee had said about her initiation.

"Maybe a little more scary than Raven," Bumblebee said, looking Cyborg in the eye. The human side of him paled considerably at this admission.

"You're kidding, right?" He asked weakly.

"Nope, just don't get her angry," Bumblebee replied with a smirk, signing off and leaving Cyborg to contemplate the fact that someone with a temper that was worse than Raven's might actually be coming to visit.

"I'm not that bad, am I," a voice asked from the far corner of the room.

"D.C.?" Bumblebee asked curiously. "You know I hate it when you sneak around like that."

"That's why I like to do it," Dream Clown smirked. As she said those words, a mirage-like blanket fell off what was revealed to be the bed-ready heroine. "Just trying to scare your boyfriend, or what?"

"He needs a good scare now and then," Bumblebee agreed.

Dream Clown's head snapped to the side suddenly. Something had caught her attention.

"Oh hell," D.C. said quietly.

"What?" Bumblebee asked, alert.

"Hell," she said again, clearly. She caught the look of confusion on Bumblebee's face. "Hell, as in the Hell. We have demons on their way. On their way here, now."

"What do you mean, demons?" Bumblebee asked.

"Real nasty things. Big claws, bigger teeth. Wings usually, some times they even breath fire," Dream Clown said, trying to sound casual.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Put the tower on high alert." Dream Clown stopped a moment. "There's something else on it's way. Something powerful. Carried by a psychic, a pretty powerful one at that."

"Do we let the psychic in?" Bumblebee asked.

"Yeah. Rule one: if there's something a demon wants, its usually not good for anyone else," Dream Clown said as she moved to her room.

Bumblebee took a deep breath and pushed the alert button. It was just one thing after the other around here.

Dream Clown opened her trunk. She had had her moms send it to her once she had gotten settled. They had been worried sick, but a few phone calls had put their minds at ease. They even said that they might stop by, she only hoped that didn't mean a shop-lifting spree.

She pulled herself back to her trunk though. This had to be done quickly, and carefully. Her mental powers were natural. This was an acquired skill. She tossed a few books to the side and pulled out some small capsules of holy water, fastening them to her belt. The crystals were next; diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, and to top it all off, a demon ruby. They all were tucked carefully into some pouches on her waist.

At a young age her powers had manifested themselves, and with them came an acute awareness of the world in general. That meant the entire world, not just the human one. She had seen ghosts, an angel or two now and then, but mostly demons and devils. There was something about them in general that fucked up the thoughts of everyone around them. Some kind of mental waves or something, that was how Dream Clown knew, always knew that they were coming. Psychics were a little different, but the principal was the same.

That object though, something was definitely wrong. Dream Clown never picked up on objects, never. It was kind of like finding a pulse on a stone, just impossible. That meant one of two things; what she was tracking was alive, or that it was really, really powerful.

"Porque?" Mas y Menos asked Bumblebee for what felt like the millionth time.

"Because Dream Clown said so," Bumblebee replied as they finished carving what Dream Clown had told them to into the doorways of the tower. It was some kind of weird writing that Bumblebee had never seen before, very curvy and winding.

"So what is this?" Speedy asked the masked girl as she did something with some of the water pistols they kept in storage.

"If you must know, that's demon script. I think it's a sin just to write it, I may have to go to a confessional after this. Anyway, it's a binding spell. Nothing goes in or out of this building if it has an evil aura."

"Why can't we just write it in English?" Aqua lad asked.

"It would take five hours to write the first word of that spell in English and it would look like gibberish. Besides, the demons couldn't read it," Dream Clown sighed.

"So we're just banking on the fact that whatever is out there doesn't get in here?" Bumblebee clarified.

"Basically, but if they do we'll need a few defenses." Dream Clown said, now working on a large quantity of Speedy's arrows.

"Can I ask what you're doing to my arrows?" Speedy requested.

"Adding a sulfur charge. If I cast the blessing on these right, then they should be able to destroy any demon…if you get a hit on the heart or the head." Dream Clown explained. "I know this is demeaning Aqua lad, but just bear with me." She handed him two full water guns. "These are filled with holy water. It will hurt them way more than normal water would."

"Isn't there some other way to use it?" Aqua lad asked as he took the guns distastefully.

"I don't have enough. It's watered down as is. If we had a cross of Steria then that wouldn't be an issue," Dream Clown grumbled.

"What's a cross of Steria?" Bumblebee asked before anyone else could open their mouths.

"Crosses. There are two. They can be used by anyone to bless any type of water source. As it is, there's just not enough time to bless any water." Dream Clown said.

What they had long-ago determined to be the doorbell rang just then.

"Use the peephole, but if it's a person holding something looking for help then let them in," Dream Clown ordered.

Mas y Menos were gone about a second, coming back with a very distressed looking woman. She had an average, middle aged figure. Slightly athletic. Shoulder length black hair and was dressed smartly in a pair of black slacks and a white button-down shirt. In her hands was a foot long object covered in cloth.

"Hello, my name is Angela Dodson. This may sound strange, but I'm…" The woman started, but Dream Clown interrupted.

"A powerful psychic being chased by demons who want whatever you're holding, right there," Dream Clown finished and pointed to the object covered in cloth.

Angela looked startled.

"May I?" Dream Clown asked, again pointing to the object.

Angela nodded.

Dream Clown took it reverently, slowly sliding the cloth off. Her blood ran cold as she realized what she was looking at. Age had been kind to the blade, the red stain that should have marred the golden shine accenting it instead.

"Longinus," Dream Clown breathed.

Angela nodded.

"What the Hell are you doing with this?" Dream Clown asked almost angrily.

"I was trying to hide it. Marmon was almost released with it," Angela said.

Dream Clown starred at her like she had just announced that she was going to grow a second head. "Marmon?" She asked weakly.

"Question." Speedy interjected, "What are you two talking about?"

"This is the tip of the lance that pierced the side of Christ and evidently it was almost used to bring the son of Satan to earth," Dream Clown said with a certain disbelief in her own voice.

"This is a joke, right?" Bumblebee asked. Demons were one thing, but this was something else entirely.

"No. We'll discuss this later. We have work to do for now. May I use this to defend the tower this night?" Dream Clown asked Angela.

"As long as I get it back," Angela said and D.C. nodded.

"Okay. Lets do this," Dream Clown said, mostly to herself as she made the final preparations, a large circle in the middle of the room. As she sat down Indian style with the spear in her lap, she said, "Everyone inside."

The order was obeyed as Dream Clown began chanting. Instantly, a dome of light encompassed the teens…and middle aged woman.

Several tense moments passed before the sounds started. At first it was a hum. Then it was a slight shaking in the floor. Finally, it was a screeching cry. Deafening inside the dome, they could only image what it would be like outside.

"And they shall cry out in the damned tongue. Heresies shall spew from their bile-soaked mouths. The lord shall be called by his servants to defend and his wrath shall smite them as a falling hammer," D.C. cried. The roaring noise stooped completely, and silence prevailed.

"Good or Bad?" Speedy asked.

"Bad. They're inside," Bumblebee read off her communicator.

Right on cue, a flood of what appeared to be giant bats with, as D.C. warned, giant teeth and claws, swooped in on a wind that smelled of brimstone. When they met the shield, though, they instantly melted into oblivion, crying out in pain.

"Be ready. Now that they're within range, I'm going to switch from defensive to offensive." D.C. warned. "Mas, Menos. Here," Dream Clown said and tossed them a medium-length sword. "Just remember. They aren't human." The twins nodded unsurely, but took the blade. "Stay close, the shield is going down," D.C. said as a final warning.

When the shield went down, the demons charged, for a moment. Then blasts of blessed, sulfur charged arrows, holy water, and electrical shocks routed them. Once the front line of the battle was set, Mas y Menos began to circle, holding the blade out-words and shredding every demon on the line.

After about a minute of this, all present were shocked to find spears of light shooting out from behind them. Dream Clown's voice rose from behind them, "And woe to my enemy from he who is my flashing sword is also my shield and will bring down any foe." The spears shot into the oncoming hord and destroyed them in massive amounts.

"And here I though we'd be up for a fight," Speedy laughed as they took down the last stragglers.

"We were lucky. They might have overwhelmed us if we hadn't had the spear and the fact that I know some very unusual spells." D.C. corrected.

As if emphasizing the comment, that moment a flood of the darkest magic anyone had ever seen washed over the world, destroying civilization and, yes, as with the corny story line goes, turning all of humanity into stone.

"Raven!" Jinx cried out as Raven was consumed by a yawning vortex of power. It was all so sudden. The day had been going…not quite normal, but enough to satisfy the Titans. Then Raven started acting weird…and now…

She was taking up her destiny, Jinx spat viciously. She swore that she would save Raven, then and there. And Trigon would pay.

Jinx scratched against the shield, but it wouldn't yield.

The other Titans were right next to her, banging with all their might against the shield that Raven had put up against them. Watching Raven, all the while, scream and scream. Then came the wave of evil energies. Raven's shield held back the brunt of it, but Jinx could feel it reach out and scrape her soul.

Then Raven wasn't there. She just wasn't. In her place was some kind of red monstrosity, and Jinx knew that he was Trigon. In a flash they had been thrown back into the massive gray wasteland that was now their city.

"What now?" Starfire asked weakly.

"We fight," Jinx growled.

"We beat down that mother fucker!" Cyborg added.

"Avenge Raven," Beast Boy nodded.

"And kick some Demon ass," Shego affirmed as she helped Kim up.

"Okay. B.B. and Cy. You two are the spear head. Kim, Shego. You two are behind Jinx and me. Jinx. You and I will be going for Trigon." Robin dictated, watching the hordes of fiery demons pouring out from what could accurately be described as a hole to hell.

"I ain't no ones backup," Shego interjected. Kim gave her a 'not now' look, and that seemed to settle the issue.

"Robin, please? What are Terra and I to do?" Starfire asked.

"Yeah! We wanna' dish out some beating too!" Terra chimed in.

"You two, are guarding Tim and Jim." Robin nodded to the two boys who were staring at the giant demon. "Take down anything within your range, but don't leave the boys alone."

The two girls nodded and Kim hugged her siblings quickly.

"Okay then," Robin took a deep breath. "TITANS GO!"

B.B, as a T-rex, and Cyborg, using his sonic cannon, launched into the horde. They quickly became bogged down half-way to Trigon. Then Shego and Kim took over. The two male titans doing battle may have been more than just mildly impressive, but watching two fighters, at the peek of their style, in perfect harmony of movement was astounding. Punches, kicks, and whip-like tails swung close and far. Two demons went down for every second the fighters continued

Robin and Jinx didn't stop to ponder this testament of physical perfection. Robin, as Shego and Kim broke off, let loose with bird-a-rangs and blasts of frigid ice that would make any glacier jealous. Jinx, concentrating on every fraction of good luck she could find within herself, let loose volley after volley of punches and kicks, downing dozens of demons. They had reached Trigon, sitting on the titan tower in a pool of magma, in no time at all.

"You mortals have always been the stubborn breed," Trigon contemplated as he watched the heroes lazily. "I have won. Why not become part of my legon?"

"Because you have no regard for anything! Even the life of your own daughter!" Jinx yelled aloud.

Trigon snorted. "That pathetic girl was my portal, nothing more."

Not thinking she could be any more furious with the almost omnipotent creature before her, Jinx was surprise to find her rage taking on an almost physical form. Hate incarnate. A homicidal instinct that went far beyond mere anger and touched the core of her being. Where her power lay…

The beast within her roared with a feral cry for vengeance. Kill the monster, it raged. Jinx obeyed.

A barrage of hex bolts flashed in the black sky that could have toppled the highest mountains. They hit their mark with Robin's own ice bolts…and a bolt of thunder and two of fire.

Jinx and Robin whirled around to find Shego, Kim, and…Slade?

"Explanations later," Slade dismissed.

Robin nodded. "What about the others?"

"We had some…unexpected arrivals," Kim said, pointing to the battlefield.

Even though Robin had seen everything at this point, there was still something the world had to offer to surprise him.

On the opposite shore, across the lava field, a battle of legends was taking place.

Three towering figures of light stood on a hill. Simply put, they were the pure, spirit-forms of Dream Clown, Aqua lad, and Speedy. The forms of the guardians. Aqua lad wielded a wave of what looked to be liquid light, taking out demons in the twenties.

Speedy was firing arrows of a similar substance from a bow with a string of light. One arrow was wiping out at least thirty demons at a time.

The last of the treo was standing, hands folded, as if in prayer.

"And for those un-humans that would slaughter," she spoke, "I will unleash, into reality, all of my nightmares to do battle."

The space behind her darkened and poured out reptilian-looking creatures that began tearing apart the demons.

Back with the twins, things could have been better. Starfire and Terra were completely surrounded as the earth-mover poured the ashen ground onto the evils flames. Starfire had resorted to using brute force to slam them to the ground. Her starbolts had little effect.

"We've gotta do something," Tim said desperately.

"What? We don't have anything!" Jim said, looking at the small pile of technology that they had assembled from their pockets.

"There has to be something…" Tim trailed off as he saw something.

"Nuclear batteries," Jim said, following his gaze.

"If we bond that projector to the titans communicators and hotwire them through…" Tim said.

"A processor capable of an inversion matrix…" Jim added.

"Then we could bend space-time," Tim finished, excited.

"But we don't have the processor," Jim groaned.

"Well," Tim started as he looked to his power tools. "How desperate are we?"

"Pretty desperate," Jim nodded. He had a feeling what Tim was planning. If they used the two small drills to pop a hole in their skulls, they could tap the device into their brains, and use them as processors. To say that it was dangerous would be an understatement. To say that Mrs. Possible would have grounded them from inventing for the next ten years for even thinking about something like this, wouldn't.

"Hika bika boo," Tim said.

"Hoosha," Jim finished and began their work.

Terra and Starfire were back up against each other when out of nowhere, demons started to bend and snap, fading into nothing ness. They took the unexpected help well and resumed the fight. Or they would have, if a new fighter hadn't fallen out of the sky, bringing a sword down on one demon.

"And woe to the darkness, for the sleeper has awakened," The man. Who was dressed in a full set of mid-evil chain mail yelled and began to slash away. It was a safe bet that neither girl noticed the insignia of a dragon on the man's chest. All they did notice was that their strength seemed to grow by unbelievable bounds.

Cyborg and B.B. weren't doing too hot either. Beast Boy was changing shape faster than the eye could follow, and he could barely maintain their front line even with Cy's backup. Until a wave of black, reptilian things started to pour down on the fiery demons. Cy and BB stood back to back, watching warily as the demons were torn apart.

"I didn't do that," Beast Boy commented.

"Me neither," Cy agreed.

That was when they noticed the group of white warriors, shining on the hilltop.

"They on our side?" Cyborg asked.

"I'm not complaining," Beast Boy shrugged.

"Okay then," Cyborg nodded and lunged back into the battle. Beast Boy shrugged once again, took one step and stopped dead in his tracks. A wave of…something pierced his mind. Then an immense pain.

With a guttural growl, he felt himself change once again.

Into the Beast.

"Puny mortals," Trigon laughed as he scratched his chest where the attacks were hit, not even a bruise.

"This may not have been my best idea," Jinx growled. Add to all her stress a compounded feeling of helplessness. Raven was dead. She was near it. All of her new friends, Raven's friends too, were near it.

"Damn." Jinx sighed. Looking up, she mouthed, "If someone is listening, and I know someone must be. If you give me the power to take this asshole down, I'll give you anything. Anything you want. Even my soul."

Inside her mind, a voice laughed. "Desperation. I have never know a human to feel so strongly. You are largely an apathetic race, did you know?" The voice asked, almost bored.

"I don't care who you are," Jinx thought back vehemently, "Or your philosophical ramblings. Will you give me the power?"

"But you already have it little one," The voice thought back. "You just don't know it. Human shortcomings will be your downfall. If you were willing to give those up, then we might be able to…do some real damage."

Jinx blinked. Then nodded. Looking back up at the blood-red figure before her, she concentrated on her power once more. For the first time, she could feel something far deeper than just the forces of luck playing within her. The her arm seized up with pain and she had to let it go. Raven had mentioned something like this. It only happened when someone started to use far too much of their power and their body couldn't take it.

Nodding once more to herself, Jinx began her charge. Putting all of her force behind her hands, Jinx took a somersault to a flying kick. It was suicide, and she knew it.

Robin, Shego, and Kim watched in horror as Trigon batted her form away in mid-air, slamming it to the ground. Slade had a look of slight amusement.

Standing, Jinx took account of her injuries. A few ribs cracked. The taste of blood in her mouth and the difficulty breathing probably meant internal injuries. The light behind her eyes might mean a light concussion. Her left arm was hanging limp, probably dislocated. The pain in her head emphasized the dislocation.

Pulling her consciousness into focus, Jinx concentrated on that deeper pull of power. The pain hit again. This time, though, her physical pain actually lessened the extent to which she felt her body being killed, inch by inch, by an overflow of her own power.

Laughing manically out of a half-giddy, pain induced madness, Jinx pierced the gap. She could feel the power, flowing over her.

"Okay asshole, let's dance!" Jinx yelled and launched herself at Trigon. She didn't even contemplate the fact that she was flying. Trigon merely had time to blink before he was hit by the mother of all punches.

Picking himself up out of the lava, he growled. "You are a mere controller of luck mortal! I demand to know how you can possibly wield so much power!"

"There is nothing mere about me," Jinx laughed from her position floating on the roof of the tower. "And I have transcended luck and chance. I hold domain over the forces of chaos and order! THEY ARE MY SWORD AND SHIELD, AND I WILL SMITE THEE!" Jinx extended her right hand. "Accursed Dragon of the seven Hells, bringer of chaos! I hold your reigns, wake to my summons! Free yourself from the Heaven's bonds! I swear and bind myself to thee. Let us walk the path of destruction together! Smite my enemy!"

A single roar from deep with in the bowels of the earth shook the land and sky alike. It felt as though, if Satan we not already here, then he was sure as Hell on his way. The land beside the tower ruptured and unleashed a gigantic, blood red, dragon made up of what looked to be pure lightning. It curled around Jinx and roared once more, revealing oscillating, saber-like teeth that sparked and moved.

For the first time, and emotion other than contempt flitted across Trigon's face. It was just a flash, but he was uncertain.

Jinx saw it and shot her right hand forward. The dragon roared once again and charged. It struck Trigon, a split-second later, in the full of his chest. In a cry of rage and pain, Jinx felt it. It too was only a flash, but her power, through the dragon, latched onto it.

In an instant, there wasn't a battlefield. It was just a plain, dark space that echoed with emptiness, but was not empty.

"Jinx?" A shadow of Raven asked. She looked surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Well I was putting the beat down on dear old dad, but…" Jinx looked at her more closely. "I felt you within him, and reached out."

"You should just quit." Raven dismissed.

"That isn't the Raven I know," Jinx argued.

"The Raven you know is gone," Raven argued.

"Bullshit! You're still you! And…I still love you." Jinx said quietly.

"You still…"Raven trailed off, a look of disbelief on her face.

"Love you," Jinx nodded. "So do your friends. Their fighting right now. Well, everyone except for Robin, Kim, and Shego. Their watching me be my bad-ass self."

"Still yourself, Jinx," Raven smirked.

"Fight!" Jinx said fiercely.

"Fight. To strike one's opponent in an offensive manner." Raven defined.

"Raven?" Jinx asked, frightened.

"Enemy. One who causes you injury, pain, discomfort, anger, hate." Raven snarled, her voice rising with each word. "Emotions are my fuel, and with my emotions I shall strike those who threaten my friends and love!" Raven howled.

Suddenly, Jinx was back on the outside. The dragon had back off, but Trigon was hunched over, bleeding. His body stiffened. Another rumbling was felt, stronger this time. From the demon lord's back, two giant wings of solid ebony shot out, pulling a massive raven from within Trigon.

With a cry, it perched beside Jinx and the dragon, revealing the figure of the Teen Titan, Raven. "Jinx," Raven cried in alarm. Reaching out with one of its wings, Raven's healing power coursed through Jinx, repairing the broken bones and ruptured organs. In a moment, Jinx felt like a million bucks.

"You DARE TO THREATEN A GOD!" Trigon bellowed, a vortex of power swirling about him.

The power manifested itself in spikes of energy shooting through the air.

Raven and Jinx launched their avatars towards the spikes, fusing them in the process. The black energy fluxed about the dragon and created six soot-black wings flapping on his back.

It snapped its head and deflected the waves of spikes. When it met the vortex of power, though, it was halted. Dead cold.

"What a disappointment it must be to come so far and be found so LACKING!" Trigon laughed at some uproariously funny joke.

"Please," Raven whispered. "Please," Jinx echoed.

Their pleas were heard by one deity. The Christian one. God looked down on the two young girls battling for the fate of some many people that they had never even seen, let alone met…and smiled.

It was tradition for any entity that surpassed all of nature itself in its intensity and power in its chosen field to become an angel. God mused lightly on that subject. He hadn't added to his flock of the heavenly host in the last six hundred years, at least, while a human was still alive. And he had never promoted a half-demon to angelic status.

"Do you think it wise," Temporiel asked. The keeper of time knew what his lord was thinking. He hadn't had that look on his face in a long time.

"Yes, but I think we're going to have to go for another color other than white, black, or red." God nodded to himself. Temporiel suppressed a groan. This most likely meant a headache.

Raven and Jinx both felt a disturbing sensation of reassurance. Someone had heard them. The sensation was confirmed when six pink wings shot out of Jinx's back. In the next moment, six lavender wings shot from Raven's. They dwarfed each of their smaller bodies. With the wings came an influx of power. Different power, but power none the less.

The Dragon attacking Trigon swelled to three times its size and unleashed a purifying blue and white flame, pulverizing the invisible shield that had held it back.

Trigon roared in rage as the dragon encircled him and placed him in a snake-like stranglehold. It opened it's fierce jaws once again and lowered them down on Trigon's head. A mixture of Angelic, Demon, and Chaotic magics fell upon the greatest terror ever known to two dimensions. In that instant, he ceased to exist. Along with all of the terror he wrought forth.

"I never knew wings could be such a hassle," Jinx sighed as she floated, wings spread, in the main room of Titans tower. There was also a small halo of light hovering around her head.

"I wouldn't be too choosy," Raven advised. "We are now ordained archangels of chaos and order, and the occult." Raven was more than touched by the fact that it was highly ironic that the Christian god had created an office of the occult.

"Well, we can relax now, at least," Beast Boy said from his place on Terra's lap.

"Have a little fun?" Terra asked snidely.

"Well," Robin said, returning to the room. "Kim, Shego, and Tim and Jim are all on their way back home."

"So everything's returning to normal. What about Slade?" Cyborg asked.

"Yes. Glorious, we must have the Tamaranian feast of victory!" Starfire said excitedly.

"Yep," Jinx nodded. "Back to normal."

"Hey Kimmie?" Shego asked the girl sitting in her lap.

"Yes?" Kim said sleepily.

"I helped you save the world, right?" Shego asked.

"Yes," Kim nodded. "Must be quite the blow to your ego."

"Well, I was just going to remind you of that promise you made. About coming with my on one of my "errands.""

Kim groaned. Survive the apocalypse or help Shego steal? Kim would take the apocalypse.

"Wait til' Ron hears about this," Kim lamented.

At that moment, aforementioned side-kick was running for his life in the deepest bowels of an ancient and forbidden Chinese prison housing the most dangerous demon ever known. One that might out-class Trigon. And all to save the world…again…but that is another story…


End file.
